Super Eagles: Don’t lose hope on Super Eagles, Peseiro, Ekong tell Nigerians

Coach Peseiro and team captain Troost-Ekong are confident that the Super Eagles will progress to the next stage of the AFCON tournament, despite their draw against Equatorial Guinea in their first game.

Despite having to come from behind, Nigeria managed to secure a 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea at the Allasane Quattara Stadium in Abidjan.

Coach Peseiro believes that the Super Eagles were the better team and could have won by a larger margin if they had capitalized on their opportunities.

Coach Peseiro attributed their previous result to mistake during the post-match conference and stated that the team will correct that in their next game against the hosts, Cote d’Ivoire, on Thursday.

He said: “We hoped to win this match and we did everything to win. This draw doesn’t suit us.

“Our team created a lot of chances, but we didn’t score. We hope that next time, even with fewer opportunities, we will score. We simply must improve our finishing.”

Coach Peseiro believes that Nigeria has the potential to defeat Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday if they can replicate the same number of opportunities they had against Equatorial Guinea.

The Super Eagles have had three draws in competitive internationals, including their recent game against Equatorial Guinea.

They also had two unsatisfactory results in their opening two World Cup qualifiers in November, where they were held at home by Lesotho and drew away against Zimbabwe.

“Obviously we need to improve finishing, but it is not as if the players meant to miss their chances,” he said, while blaming the hot and humid conditions for slowing down his team.
“I think my players prefer to play in front of 60,000 rather than the 8,000 we had today,” he said.

Team captain Troost-Ekong encouraged Super Eagles’ fans to keep supporting the team despite their previous results.

He believes that the team has the potential to perform even better in the upcoming matches.
“I just want to say thank you for the support, for the guys that came out there. Of course, we’re disappointed. We feel the same way as you guys. We wanted to win today, but I think we have to look at the positives,” Ekong said.
“Don’t give up on us. We would have won handsomely, if we score all the goal scoring chances we created. We promise a better outing against Cote d’Ivoire.”
Nigeria’s second group game will hold at the Alhassan Quattara Stadium on Thursday by 5.00 p.m.

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