Super Eagles of Nigeria head coach Jose Peseiro has warned his side to keep level heads and manage the excitement of their quarter-final qualification, as they play Angola in last 8 fixture of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Friday.
The Portuguese tactician said he has continued to sing it to the players that the team is yet to win anything and that full consciousness and concentration must be activated ahead of the evening encounter at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny.
“I am telling them that we are only in the quarter-finals, that we still have some way to go, and that the farther we go, the tougher the opposition becomes. We have played four matches and won three, so we must keep level heads as we go forward, Peseiro said.
“Our philosophy is that there are no small teams here at the Africa Cup of Nations. Every team qualified to be here, and every team in the knockout phase qualified from a group phase. Any team in the last 8 is good enough for the trophy. We believe we are good enough for the trophy, but we must continue working and putting out our best on match days.”
Angola eliminated Namibia’s Brave Warriors with a 3-0 spanking in the Round of 16, Gelson Dala hitting a brace against the regional rivals at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake.
On-field captain William Ekong said that the match against Angola could prove to be the toughest yet for the Eagles, but that he and his teammates are ready for the battle.
“We can no longer expect any easy games. In truth, there have not been easy games here. We have played Equatorial Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau and Cameroon, and none has turned out to be a picnic. From the quarter-finals, it will be a lot tougher because all the teams will believe they are good enough for the trophy,” Ekong said.
“We are discussing among ourselves what we have to do. There is no resting on our oars. We saw Guinea eliminate Equatorial Guinea, football is like that. We must be alert for the entire period and do our best to convert the chances that we create.”
Winger Moses Simon also admitted that it would not be a stroll-in-the-park at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny on Friday.
“It is going to be a difficult game, like the ones against Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon, and even Equatorial Guinea. We must be at our best and focus on the prize.”
Clashes between Nigeria and Angola at the international level have been few and far between, but Nigeria has a couple of scores to settle with the southern African nation.
Angola edged Nigeria to reach the last round of the qualification series for the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals in Italy, but the return leg in Nigeria that the Eagles won 1-0 was under a cloud of tragedy as playmaker Samuel Okwaraji collapsed and died 13 minutes from the end on August 12, 1989. Several other football fans lost their lives in a stampede that ensued after the game. The first leg in Luanda ended 2-2.
Angola also famously stopped Nigeria from reaching the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, when the Eagles followed a 0-1 loss in Luanda to draw 1-1 with the Negras in a sunny Sani Abacha Stadium in June 2005.
