Coming off a 1-0 victory against Egypt in their opening match at the Africa Cup of Nations, Nigeria coach Augustine Eguavoen says his team will go into their next game against Sudan with the same approach.
At a pre-match press conference ahead of the Super Eagles’ game on Saturday, the head coach insisted on the need for the Nigerian team to qualify for the last of 16.
“Sudan is not a pushover, and more so, they are one point, we are three points, we want to consolidate on that and we will be pushing on harder to have a chance to qualify for the knockout phase. They have players in their attack who are quite fast, probably as fast as Mo Salah (Liverpool and Egypt striker), but tomorrow they are playing against Nigeria and we expect that they will raise their game as well, but we will respond well,” said Augustine.
Sudan who have a point after drawing Guinea Bissau in their opener, are looking for a win in their next match against Nigeria. A win to Sudan will shoot them at the top of Group C.
“Many people expect us to lose. But you know, in football can happen everything. For us, the most important thing is to go on the pitch to prove first of all, for us and after for everybody like we have … we are a team. We are like a family and we can do everything together.” said Yasin Hamed, Sudan winger.
Egypt will expect more from star man Mohamed Salah against Guinea-Bissau as the record seven-time champions attempt to bounce back from an opening loss to Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Liverpool forward cut an isolated and frustrated figure as Egypt lost 1-0 to the Super Eagles in Garoua, suffering their first group stage defeat at the continental tournament since 2004.