Captain of Nigeria’s home based Super Eagles Nduka Junior believes his side’s impressive win over Ghana will boost the players’ profiles going forward, www.aclsports.com reports.
Nduka, 21, scored and assisted in the famous 3-1 win which sealed a 3-1 aggregate score that earned his side qualification for next year’s African Nations Championship (CHAN) and he expressed his feelings to ACLSports after the game.
“I’m happy we qualified, not just winning the game, but that we qualified. I’m happy we also broke the (Ghana) jinx.
“They’ve beaten us the first time, second time, and we felt this shouldn’t happen again especially on our home soil here in Nigeria. So we gave them the bitter pills they gave to us in our last two qualification (World Cup and CHAN) meetings,” said Nduka in an exclusive chat to www.aclsports.com
Saturday’s win meant that Nigeria qualify for the CHAN tournament for the first time in six years (having last featured in the 2018 edition hosted and won by Morocco) and will make their fourth appearance in the competition next year.
Only Rabiu Ali who was introduced as a second half substitute in Saturday’s game is the surviving member of that 2018 squad which implies that majority of the players were wearing Nigeria’s green and white for the first time.
“It’s a big win for us. This feat is going to build our profile, it’s going to boost the league. A lot of us will have the chance to represent our country in a continental competition so it’s a big deal for the league,” added Nduka.
The Nigerian team led by Remo Stars head coach Daniel Ogunmodede who was assisted by Rangers coach Fidelis Ilechukwu will join fifteen other African countries for the eighth edition of the African Nations Championship to be co-hosted by Eastern Africa neighbours Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in February 2025.
Picture: NFF Media
