Former Super Eagles captain and African Cup of Nations winner in 2013, John Obi Mikel said Nigeria football would be back on track if the Super Eagles can win the tournament starting January 13 in Cote d’ Ivoire.
The Super Eagles are drawn in the same group with the hosts, Cote d’ Ivoire, Guinea Bissau and Equatorial Guinea and for Mikel, it would be massive if the Super Eagles can rise to the occasion and shock doubters.
“We are always favourites, this is every time we go into the tournament and it’s no different this time. Everyone knows that we are one of the favourites – not the massive favourite but definitely one of the favourites.
“To be able to do it again will be a massive achievement for us which I think the country needs right now as well. We need to get our football back where it should be and by winning this tournament, it will take it back to where it should be.
“Football has changed dramatically, and I think this group of players are a good young team and play a different brand of football than we did so let’s hope we can see a good performance from the Nigerian team”, Mikel told Cafonline.
Nigeria with a rich history in the tournament crashed out in the round of 16 in the 2022 tournament in Cameroon, a poor outcome by all standard for a team that won in 1980, 1994 and 2013. The Super Eagles were runners up in 1984, 1988, 1990 and 2000.
The Super Eagles will kick off their campaign on 14 January against Equatorial Guinea before facing the hosts four days later in what will be a repeat of the 2013 edition quarter-final that saw them overcome Cote d’Ivoire 2-1.
They conclude the Group A campaign with a tie against Guinea-Bissau on 22 January.
