The Super Eagles camp for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has opened in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Coach Jose Peseiro has already named 25 players for the competition which begins mid-January in the West African nation of Cote d’Ivoire.
Barring one home-based player, the other invitees are expected in camp from their different European bases.But Samuel Chukwueze of AC Milan, goalkeeper Francis Uzoho, William Troost-Ekong, and Sadiq Umar of Real Sociedad have been granted permission to feature for their sides in games later today. They will then hit the camp on Wednesday.
Nigeria will be in the oil-rich nation for a week as they fine-tune plans for the biennial football showpiece. The Super Eagles are in Group A of the competition alongside hosts Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea.
Their first game is against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday, January 15th, 2024 before they square off against Cote d’Ivoire four days later. After this, the three-time AFCON winners take the battle to Guinea-Bissau on Monday, January 22.
Nigeria are coming into the competition on the back of a poor start to the 2026 World Cup qualification campaign. The Super Eagles only managed two points from the same number of games against lowly-rated Lesotho and Zimbabwe in late 2023.
The development, as expected, triggered calls for the sack of Peseiro with many fans and pundits questioning the Portuguese gaffer’s tactical acumen to lead one of the continent’s most talented football teams.
Despite this, football authorities in Nigeria say sacking the Portuguese weeks before a major tournament is an unwise move.
While Peseiro is going into the competition under pressure, the former Al-Ahly coach is upbeat about the Super Eagles’ chances of taking another continental title eleven years after Nigeria won it in South Africa.
“We will fight to win the Africa Cup even though it won’t be easy,” Peseiro told NFF TV.
“Our group is not easy because we are up against the Ivory Coast, who have a good squad and are playing at home.
“Equatorial Guinea reached the quarter-final at the last AFCON, better than Nigeria, while Guinea Bissau beat us at home (in the qualifiers). We have to be at our best in our trainings and in our matches.”
|Guardian
