Emmanuel Okala, former Green Eagles Goalkeeper, has urged Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora to support the Super Eagles in their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign with fervent prayers.
Okala, who is the 1980 African Cup of Nations Cup winning Green Eagles goalkeeper, made the appeal while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Enugu.
NAN reports that 2019 AFCON will kick off with the new expanded 24 teams on Friday in Egypt.
While the Super Eagles, who are in Group B, will take on debutants, Burundi, in their opening match on Saturday.
Okala, who spoke on the chances of the Nigerian senior team winning the AFCON, noted that the national senior team needed the encouragement of every Nigerian.
He, however, thanked God for Super Eagles qualification on time and in a resounding way, but warned that the national team players should never underrate any team in the tournament.
“I must thank God for their easy sail during the qualification, their early preparation for the tournament as well as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Federal Government’s support to the team so far.
“I want them to go all out to win each match with high margin of goals, especially the group stage because number of goals scored alone can count for their qualification to the next round of the tournament.
“Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora must continue to make fervent prayers for the team to do well and make the nation proud once more by lifting the AFCON trophy,’’ he said.
Okala called on the Super Eagles players and technical crew to put in all the seriousness the tournament deserves.
“The Super Eagles must give good account of themselves, be good ambassadors of the nation, their families and themselves so that their football career can blossom,’’ he added.
The 2019 AFCON will hold for 29 days, thus, commencing from June 21 to July 19.
Meanwhile the Cross River Chairman of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Albert Adinam, has urged the Super Eagles to go all out to win the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Calabar that it was time the Eagles reclaimed their wings and flew higher.
He said that this year’s AFCON was going to be very tight adding that there were no longer small teams or big teams in African Football.
“Eagles have to fly higher this time because there are no more small teams in African football. If they really want to win this year’s AFCON they must work extra hard.
“Yes, on paper you may say our opponents (Burundi, Madagascar and Guinea) are push-overs but I can tell you that they can still surprise us, ‘’ he said.
Adinam further maintained that this year’s AFCON was going to be very interesting because of the recently-released FIFA ranking which ranked Senegal first in Africa and Nigeria fifth.
“Also, Cameroon is there, Ghana is there, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Senegal are all in the AFCON. So, it is not going to be easy for any team.
“Super Eagles must prove their worth by going all the way to win the trophy,‘’ he said.
Also, Charles Eniang, a former SWAN chairman, has expressed optimism that the Super Eagles would excel in the tournament.
He told NAN that he was satisfied with the team’s preparations for the tournament.
“The team has prepared very well based on the friendly matches they played and I am optimistic that they will perform well and possibly win the cup, ‘’ Eniang said.
According to him, Nigeria’s opponents in the group stage (Burundi, Madagascar and Guinea) were not strong enough to stop the Eagles from qualifying for the second round.
“In that group, it is only Guinea that can give us a strong challenge. But we will defeat them and progress further to the knockout stage, ‘’ Eniang said.
He advised coach Gernot Rohr to pick players based on their performances and commitment in training rather than their names.
In the same vein,Etim Oqua, an immediate-past chairman of SWAN in the state, warned that the Eagles should not underrate any team at the tournament.
“The greatest mistake the team will do is to underrate any team. Burundi, Madagascar and Guinea, all qualified to be in AFCON and, so, it will be dangerous to see them as minnows.
“Eagles should take every game serious and try to win because no team is a pushover, ‘’ he said.
Oqua said he was happy that the Nigerian team are a mixture of old and young players.
“I think the team is the best we have for now. I believe that as they play along together they will blend and they can give any opponent a run for their money.
“I see them going far and possibly bringing home the trophy, ‘’ Oqua said.
Nigeria’s first match is against Burundi and it comes up on Saturday.
