Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle, admits pressure to deliver at the ongoing AFCON in Morocco ahead of his side’s round of 16 clash with Mozambique, www.aclsports.com reports.
The former Mali coach, speaking at the official pre-match conference ahead of the round of 16 clash with the Mambas of Mozambique in Fes on Monday, declared that the tournament starts now for his side.
”This is the end of the group stage,” Chelle stated.
”Another tournament starts, and we play against Mozambique. The state of the mind of the group is good. This evening we will have the final training session to prepare for the game tomorrow.
Asked about the Federation’s expectation of at least a final-place finish, Chelle admitted he is under pressure to deliver.
”Since I took this job, I have been under pressure. Game after game, we want to become ambitious, but we want to think about the next game. If God gives us the chance to go to the quarterfinal, we will think about it. But now we will think about the game against Mozambique, and for sure we want to win this game.
”Before you talk, I did not see that,” Chelle stated while trying to respond to our football writer’s [Samuel Areo] question on Super Eagles’ quick start in games.
”This is a good statistic. My job is to work with my players and try to analyse and improve every day. We scored some good goals and conceded some goals. We have to improve every day, and we will continue to concentrate in the group.
Chelle also provided a fitness update on Cyriel Dessers and Ryan Alebiosu, saying; “Dessers has a bigger injury and should be out for about 10-12 weeks. I am disappointed for him, but we have to look in front of us and play a great game tomorro. Ryan should come back in a few days.”
In his thoughts, Wilfred Ndidi said, ”The spirit in camp is high, and everyone is ready for this game. The group stage is gone, and the competition starts now, and everyone is focused on the next round. Winning the AFCON would be amazing, but the reality is the next game, we don’t want to focus on that now, and forget that the next game is what matters.”
The AFCON round of 16 clash between Nigeria and Mozambique will get underway by 8pm (local time/Nigerian time) on Monday in Fes.
