Super Eagles of Nigeria will be on the sport for the third football match in the group stage of the ongoing CHAN 2018 tournament in Morocco tonight.
Coach Salisu led Home-based Eagles are on the verge of qualifying for the quarterfinals with a win against Equatorial Guinea in the Tuesday’s game which kick-off by 8pm (Nigeria-time)
The West African side has replaced Injured Rabiu Ali nicknamed ‘Pele’ by Pillars fans, is injured and has been replaced with another home-base player, Dayo Ojo in tonight starting XI.
Ojo was a second-half sub against Libya- a game that fetched the Super Eagles their first win of the tournament. However, Coach Salisu Yusuf is keeping faith with the team who started against both Rwanda and Libya.
This means that injury doubts Ifeanyi Ifeanyi and Osas Okoro will keep their places.
Enyimba striker Ibrahim Mustapha, who showed promise as a late substitute against Libya, will again start from the bench as NPFL hotshot Anthony Okpotu will lead the Eagles strike force for the third game running.
Eagles starting XI (4-3-3) vs Eq.Guinea
Eagles starting XI 4-3-3 vs Eq.Guinea – Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Skipper) – Osas Okoro, Daniel Itodo, Stephen Eze, Kalu Orji – Emeka Atuloma, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Dayo Ojo – Emeka Ogbugh – Anthony Okpotu, Sunday Faleye
Meanwhile, Eagles Defender, Stephen Eze, who was named the Man-of-the-Match against Libya, said they will be looking forward to another maximum three points.
“We have been taking it game after game and going against Equatorial Guinea again on Tuesday will help us to improve our performance,” he said.
“With the confidence back in this team after the victory against Libya, I believe every side is beatable.
We will go all out starting from Tuesday’s match.” On his own part, the captain of the Eagles team, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, said their decision to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians had been propelling them in Morocco.
According to him, they have learned a bitter lesson from what happened in Rwanda two years ago when the team needed only a point to progress from the group stage but failed to get it in their last game against Guinea.
The former FC Ifeanyi Ubah star said: “We have decided that we want to make our beloved country proud because we know how important this tournament is to our people back home and gradually we are getting there.
