The national secretary of All Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru has expressed a strong level of optimism that the Super Eagles will defeat Mozambique in their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 clash on Monday.
Senator Basiru revealed his optimistic thoughts about the match during an exclusive interview with Sports247 in Fes, Morocco, where he is physically present to lend support to the Eagles’ aspirations.
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The former senator, who represented Osun Central from 2019 to 2013 and enjoined two tenures as a commissioner in different ministries, started by praising the players and crew for scaling through the group stage.
He declared, “First and foremost, we must express appreciation to all the team members and their management personnel for putting up a very spectacular performance in the first round.
“I also commend the NFF in particular. We looked at their organisation and noticed that everything has been superb. The players also exuded patriotism in the way they faced every game.”
The former commissioner of justice in Osun State continued with a look at technical aspects of the Eagles’ group stage games and urged the players to avoid repeating some lapses that they suffered during their victories over Tunisia and Uganda.
He added, “They have done well, notwithstanding some challenges that they faced in the first round. I recall, in particular, the late minutes of their second match and the goal that they conceded in the third game.
“Apart from that, they’ve had a superlative performance. Aside from Nigeria, only one other team, that is Algeria, got maximum points from the first round.
“So, we believe, things will be better going forward. As we prepare to face Mozambique on Monday, we are very optimistic that they will do better than they have already done.”
The APC’s Scribe concluded by looking into details of the Eagles’ squad depth at the competition in Morocco and reckoned that the great performances of eight previously untested lads in the last group match versus Uganda means coach of the side, Eric Sekou Chelle, will face a tough task in selecting his lime-up against The Mambas of Mozambique.
“Another thing that’s very striking is that the Eagles’ line-up for their last match was a change from the previous squad that played their first two games – with eight new players introduced for the first time.
“Despite that, they still won the match 3-1. It showed that Nigeria has a very good bench, which can easily replace the main players. I believe the coach will now be in difficulty to pick the squad that will face Mozambique on Monday,” Basiru projected.
