Precious Nwonu, Enugu

Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle, has urged his players to embrace the pressure of representing Nigeria as they begin their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign against Madagascar.

Nigeria are expected to open their qualifying campaign at home against Madagascar, with Chelle stressing the importance of securing a strong start and building confidence for the matches ahead.

Speaking at a pre-match press conference, the coach said pressure was an unavoidable part of managing the national team and that his players must learn to deal with it.

“We don’t manage the pressure. We try to deal with the pressure. This is our job. The pressure is a part of the job,” Chelle said.

The coach said the Super Eagles must avoid repeating the poor start that characterised their previous World Cup qualifying campaign.

“We know the experiences of the last World Cup. We started really, really poor, really bad. It will never happen again because this is a focused team,” he said.

Chelle described the opening fixture as important to Nigeria’s campaign, saying a positive result would help establish the momentum needed for the subsequent qualifiers.

“We are planning to set the momentum because the first game is the most important game of every competition. This is qualifiers. The first game sets the momentum. So it gives us the confidence to go for the other games coming,” he added.

The French coach also expressed confidence in the quality of his squad, describing the Super Eagles as one of Africa’s leading teams.

“For me, of course, this is the best team in Africa, and maybe this team has a good ranking in the world. So we are motivated,” Chelle said.

He said his players had the right mentality ahead of the encounter, insisting that their mindset would be crucial to their performance.

“My players are very good. They have a good state of mind. They understand everything. So, like I said every time, this is not a question of winning or losing. This is a question of state of mind,” he said.

Chelle, however, warned that Madagascar should not be underestimated, recalling the country’s 2-0 victory over Nigeria at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

“For sure it will be a difficult game because Madagascar, this is not a tough team. This is a big team. I think they won against Nigeria in 2019. So we have to be ready. It will be a fight,” he said.

The coach also explained the late arrival of Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, saying the player had been granted permission to attend an event organised by his club.

“The club of Udinese asked me to let him make an event for the club. He was supposed to come before, but he’s not here. So I will manage the situation because I have to take some decisions,” Chelle said.

On injuries within the squad, Chelle acknowledged that several players were unavailable but maintained that Nigeria had sufficient depth to cope with the absences.

“We have a lot of injuries. So this is not a problem for us. We have a group. Of course, I prefer that these guys are with us. But we have to work on it. So we are ready to play that game,” he said.