Former Super Eagles captain and 1980 Africa Cup of Nations champion, Segun Odegbami, has called on the Nigerian national team to turn their individual brilliance into collective superiority by playing with confidence and strong self-belief.
In a video message shared on the Super Eagles’ official X handle on Friday, Odegbami emphasized that belief is often the deciding factor in high-level international football.
“It is about confidence, it is about belief that you can do it. You know, the difference between football in countries is not much. From match to match, when you look at them, what makes you win is so small,” he said.
“From match to match, it could just be one moment of magic, it could just be one moment you are lucky, it could just be somebody’s mistake, and occasionally it is because you play well, you are coherent and so on and so forth.
“So there are so many factors that come into winning, but the most important one is confidence and self-belief,” he stressed.
Drawing from Nigeria’s football heritage, Odegbami noted that the Super Eagles’ abundance of talent should make them a daunting opponent for any African team. He also pointed to the achievements of current stars while acknowledging past greats who laid the foundation.
“With the quality that we have, with our history and the numbers that we have, no country in Africa should be struggling with us, from competition to competition,” he said.
“And you see, last year it was Victor Osimhen, now it is Ademola Lookman. We have the stuff; we’ve had them all the time. I look at those that never became Africa’s Player of the Year, so many, Mikel Obi and all that generation of players, even JJ never became, just to tell you the depth of talent that we have.”
As the Super Eagles gear up for the ongoing AFCON, Odegbami assured them that playing with conviction usually brings deserved success rather than fortunate outcomes.
“So as we prepare, my advice to the Super Eagles is that they should play confidently, they should play without fear, they should play like champions,” he said.
“You know, when you play like that, you more often than not win, and you win deservedly because it is not by luck, it is not by chance, it is because you are good.”
The former winger concluded by urging the team to assert themselves and entertain as true champions.
“Go out there and play and perform and entertain and, you know, just go out there and dominate and win. We have the players to do it,” he added.
Odegbami’s message comes ahead of Nigeria’s AFCON quarter-final clash against Algeria on Saturday in Marrakesh, Morocco.
