Super Eagles’ former winger, Tijjani Babangida has given the current set of players in Nigeria’s national team a special charge ahead of the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, saying it’s ‘redemption time’ for them, Sports247 reports.
‘TJ’ was particular about the fact that the players could not take Nigeria to the FIFA World Cup for the second straight edition running, hence his verdict that they have to win AFCON 2025 as a consolation for their fans.
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While conceding that he never thought the star-studded squad would fall to DR Congo in the qualification play-off final last month, the former Ajax of Netherlands speedster stressed that the time has come to make amends.
He stressed that nothing short of clinching a fourth African title after the final in January 2026 would atone for the nightmare that Nigerians had to suffer on account of the Eagles’ lack of commitment in the World Cup qualifiers.
Babangida told Tribal Football: “I think that after the unfortunate experience of missing the FIFA World Cup back-to-back, it is still very painful to digest this reality.
“However, the next target is the AFCON tournament, which can be used to redeem the image of Nigeria football.
“For NFF, the players and football stakeholders, all we have now is the AFCON. So, we have to do everything we can to win the tournament.”
