By Sharon Ekhiwere
Super Eagles Head Coach, José Peseiro in an interview on Monday said that the Nigeria men’s senior national team can win a fourth AFCON trophy despite being drawn in a difficult group, platinumnewsng.com is reporting.
The Portuguese tactician admitted that the group isn’t an easy one because the three-time African champions will be up against the tournament hosts, Ivory Coast in Group A. Meanwhile, he acknowledged that the Elephants have squad depth and are also with the advantage of playing on their home soil.
“Our group is not easy because we are up against Ivory Coast, who have a good squad and are playing at home.”
“Equatorial Guinea reached the quarter-final at the last AFCON, better than Nigeria, while Guinea Bissau beat us at home (in the qualifiers).” He claimed.
Peseiro who was however very optimistic said, “We have to be at our best in our training and our matches, we will fight to win the Africa Cup even though it won’t be easy.”
The 63-year-old gaffer also noted that more than 70 players were on the radar until it was eventually trimmed down to a 25-man list for the biennial tournament in Ivory Coast. He added, “It was not easy to choose the 25 players.”
The Super Eagles of Nigeria’s training camp opens today in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates before jetting off to Ivory Coast for their Group A opener against Equatorial Guinea on January 14th in Abidjan, the capital city.