By; PATRICK TITUS, Uyo
Nigeria’s Super Eagles again, forced Falcons and True Parrots of Sao Tome and Principe to a 6-O win to qualify for the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nation (AFCON).
The match played at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Sunday, saw Nigeria’s team flying high, came after the opponents had earlier conceded 1O-O at thier home recently.
Head Coach of Super Eagles, Jose Peseiro, in a post match briefing, attributed the feat to win the last group match to maximum commitment by players, describing it as fantastic outings even as they played against a weak opponent
Peseiro, who was full of excitement, commended the government and people of Akwa Ibom State for providing quality facilities as well as good ambience to play the match.
“Our players played with maximum commitment. I assembled them to win AFCON Cup and today they have shown good commitment in their play.
“Normally if you play against a team that is not strong everybody relaxes but today they did not relax. It is fantastic game by the players, 6-0 is very good,” Peseiro said.
“I will like to say congratulations to Government of Akwa Ibom State and the people of the state because I see today was a fantastic atmosphere.
“The fans were fantastic today, I say thank you. I like the people here, everything provided for us was good.
In his comment, a Standing Captain, Wilfred Ndidi, who responded on behalf of the players, said the score line will motivate them in future competition, as they will be preparing for the World Cup qualifier.
He said, “Of course when you win a game it gives you more confidence. It is actually a good game that will give us more confidence for the next game of World Cup qualifier, of course 6-0 is good confidence for next game.”
The Assistant Coach of the Falcons and True Parrots of Sao Tome and Principe, William Barbosa, blamed his defeat on the fact that the players were young, new and had only two trainings before the match.
He said that today’s match was just formality game adding the young players will be very useful in the future games.
Barbosa rated the Super Eagles players as a strong team in Africa, second after Senegal that can go places in the African Cup of Nations tournament.
“Today’s match is not good, the first time five players reported and we got only two training. Two training is not good for this match,” he said.
Also commenting, the Captain, Ricardo Cardoso said that although they conceded that number of goals, but it was a good experience for his team playing with a stronger team like Super Eagles because it shows that they can play
“Last time we played with Nigeria, we couldn’t have good players. Now we have new players. We just had two trainings and we are beginning to know each, other and we are working hard to get there. In future we will do better, become big to win challenges.” Cardoso added.
