Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has acknowledged the pressure surrounding his role with the national team but has called for focus ahead of their next clash, SportPremi reports.
Nigeria face Mozambique in the Round of 16 at the ongoing African Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco later today, hoping for a win to advance to the next stage.
The three-time African champions are overwhelming favourites to advance from the clash, with their impressive form in Morocco and their pedigree giving them an edge over the Mambas.
They breezed through their group stage campaign with a 100% record, winning all of their three matches in Group C to qualify for the knockout rounds.
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Nigeria started off with a 2-1 win over Tanzania in their tournament opener, before a 3-2 win over Tunisia in their second match sealed their spot in the second round of the competition.
Eric Chelle made several alterations to the team in their group finale against Uganda, but the team produced another scintillating performance to grab a dominant 3-1 victory.
However, they will be wary of the threat posed by Mozambique, who managed to qualify from a difficult Group F alongside Ivory Coast and Cameroon, while Gabon were eliminated.
What Eric Chelle said
Eric Chelle earned the CAF Coach of the group stage award after guiding Nigeria to an impressive campaign in Morocco so far.
The former Mali head coach took over as head coach last year and has seen a remarkable upturn in performances, but will be eyeing a better result when they face Mozambique on Monday.
“This is the end of the group stage. 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,” Chelle stated.
“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.
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”, the 48-year-old continued.
Nigeria will be without Cyriel Dessers and Ryan Alebiosu for the clash due to injury and the Super Eagles coach provided updates on both players.
“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 tomorrow. Ryan should come back in a few days”, he concluded.
Nigeria return to the Fez Stadium tonight for their crucial Round of 16 clash against Mozambique, with a clash against Algeria or DR Congo waiting in the last eight.
