Former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria John Obi Mikel says for the senior national team of Nigeria to win next year’s Africa Cup of Nations certain players will have to play a huge role, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Mikel was pivotal for the senior national team of Nigeria when they last won the tournament in 2010 in South Africa, and he has given his opinion as they bid for a repeat in Cote d’Ivoire next year.
Nigeria will go into the tournament as one of the favorites for the title and Mikel believes that will make their task a lot harder but advised they take it one game at a time, and also one stage after another.
” For us ( Super Eagles) to win next year AFCON we have to be ready to fight from the start because as favorites teams target and prepare adequately for you. But the idea is usually one game at a time and also keep your eyes on moving from one stage to another”, he said in an interview over the weekend.
He went further to state that the experienced players in the team will have a role to play in helping the players, who are new in a tournament of this magnitude the right approach to certain games in and out of the pitch.
” You can’t wish away experience and that is where the likes of Ahmed Musa, Moses Simon, Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi will be key. Also the star of the team Victor Osimhen has to be at his best, because for a team to win the AFCON you need a striker to be among the goals. We had Emmanuel Emenike in 2013 and the 1994 team had Rashidi Yekini”, he stated.
Ade Emmanuel
