Equatorial Guinea head coach at the African Nations Championship, Rodolfo Bodipo believes his team are in a win-win situation ahead of Tuesday’s final group game against Nigeria. Bodipo’s Nzalang Nacional have already crashed out of the 2018 competition after a second defeat in the hands of Rwanda on Friday but will have their pride to play for when they face group leaders Nigeria in Agadir on Tuesday.
Bodipo faced the press on Monday afternoon ahead of Tuesday’s game and insists that whatever the result is, his team would have won. “We are going straightaway for a win. This has always been our will,” begun the former Deportivo La Coruna striker.
“There is no way we can lose. Either by winning, losing or drawing, we are a winner because we are here to accumulate experiences. All we have to do is to learn from our experiences and make it for better use in the future.”
The Guineans are featuring in their first CHAN competition and have paraded the youngest team in the tournament with an average age of 21. Bodipo’s side have failed to score in any of their two games so far but he avers that they have improved with each game and are motivated to face the Super Eagles despite their ouster.
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“We came with this young team and we knew we were coming to face big teams in the tournament.
“Our players were better in the second match than in the first and for the Nigerian game, they are ready to do better. They are motivated because of the sort of motivation that a big game against Nigeria attracts.”
One of the team’s youngest players Mariano Ondo, 18, (pictured above) talked up the team’s experience and when asked by www.aclsports.com’s Fisayo Dairo how useful their participation would be for them, believes it will make them better in the future.
“Yes we are actually a young team,” stressed Ondo. “The experience has been positive, we feel that each time we play, we gain new experience and we believe that by the next time we come (to a major tournament), we will be a better team.”
Nigeria’s game against Equatorial Guinea is billed for the Grande Stade D’Agadir on Tuesday at 7pm local time (Nigerian time).
Fisayo Dairo reporting from Agadir, Morocco
