Nigeria Super Eagles head coach, Éric Chelle, believes Monday’s friendly against Zanzibar is good for his side’s preparation ahead of next month’s African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, www.aclsports.com reports.
Ahead of Monday’s match, Chelle said, “We have a great game tomorrow against Zanzibar. I think this is a good team with great technical staff, with good players. It will be a great game, and we need to prepare and play against a team like Zanzibar.”
“For us, it’s a very good thing to prepare for the CHAN. Our ambitions during the CHAN are to take the games one-on-one, one after another, and we will see what we can do in this competition.”
Chelle shared details about the team’s training approach and tactical plans as they prepare for the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in East Africa.
“About our preparation, we started two weeks ago with a first camp in Ikenne near Lagos,” Chelle began. “So we did work a lot—physically, tactically, and of course, technically. And now, we continue our preparation here in Zanzibar.”
In addition, Chelle also went ahead to appreciate the hosts for their hospitality, saying, “Thank you for welcoming us again. Thank you very much. The structure is in Zanzibar. I think you have some good structure. So your environment is perfect for us. We can work again tactically and technically.”
On his part, the captain of the side, Junior Nduka, spoke about the importance of the friendly and how it will prepare the side for the tournament that will run from August 2-30.
“About our preparation moving forward, we are still preparing because we still have a week before the tournament. And this game is one of the games we play just to make sure we know our strengths and our weaknesses,” the Remo Stars defender said.
Nigeria, runners-up in the 2018 edition, will kick off their tournament campaign with back-to-back fixtures against Senegal and Sudan at the Amman Stadium in Zanzibar. They will then wrap up their group stage matches with a clash against Congo at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
