Nigeria missed out on the last edition of the AFCON championship held in Equitorial Guinea, and the Eagles have now been grouped along with Egypt, Tanzania and Chad for the 2017 edition to be staged in Gabon.
The former Schalke 04 forward insists that nobody should not write Nigeria off as the zone would only help them prepare adequately.
“With the presence of Egypt, those involved will now know that getting a ticket to the Africa Cup of Nations is not an easy one and they will prepare very well and hopefully finish well.”
“The challenge will be the quality of players we invite to prosecute the qualifiers. That is where my fear is.
“We have players who are not playing regular football, while some are playing in lower leagues and still get a chance to play for the country,” he continued.
“If the national team is dominated by players who play regularly in top flight league, their understanding about the game will definitely build them up for international assignments.
“When you are playing in the lower cadre where you face lower challenge(s), there is no how you won’t fizzle out when you face tough challenges on the international scene and that is a big problem.
“If we put our acts right, we will definitely secure a ticket to play in the Africa Cup of Nations. Even Egypt are not guaranteed a ticket to qualify, they will have to battle with other teams,” he concluded.
Nigeria will begin the qualifiers with matches against Chad and Tanzania in June.
Credits : nigerianbulletin.com
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