Haller braced for physical battle with Nigerian defenders

Ivorian striker Sébastien Haller says he is expecting a physical battle with Nigerian defenders when his country Côte d’Ivoire face the Super Eagles in Sunday’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, www.aclsports.com reports.

Haller, 29, is expected to lead the attack line for Les Elephants on Sunday, four days after scoring the goal that sent them to another AFCON final against Dr Congo.

The Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Ebimpé will be the stage once again when the two West African giants go toe-to-toe in a repeat of their group stage game held at the same venue on January 18.

Haller who missed that group game spoke at the pre-match press conference in Abidjan and spoke of his readiness for the physical battle with Nigerian central defenders.

“I am expecting a tough game on Sunday,” began the Borussia Dortmund striker.

“We know the way the Nigerians play. It will be a physically demanding game and it is down to us to pose problems and try to exploit their weaknesses and try to create chances. I’ve played against a couple of them before and so I have an idea how it can be,” Haller added.

It is expected to be a full house at the Ebimpé Stadium on Sunday with a largely partisan crowd. Haller admits the pressure will be on his team to win the game and himself particularly being the team’s lead striker to lead them to glory land.

“Yeah I feel the pressure because I want to put my team in front every time but yeah, it’s a pressure that everybody in the team must feel.

Of course this is how it works in football that strikers are always in front of everyone and pushing forward so that’s the life but this is a good pressure.

“You play in front of your fans as the host country and you have a lot of people pushing you so you just have to perform and I hope that this good pressure will bring my country the trophy,” Haller added.

Sunday’s final will kick-off at 8pm local time, 9pm in Nigeria.