Super Eagles’ coach, Eric Sekou Chelle has denied speculation that his team will ‘play safe’ during their last group match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations against Uganda, in order to avoid injuries.
Sports247 gathered that speculation is going round football circles that Chelle will also field a weakened squad since the Eagles have already qualified for the second round.
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The team will finish top of Gropu C even if they draw Tuesday’s game at Complexe Sportif de Fès, thereby rendering the tie mostly a formality clash and Chelle may use it to rest players ahead of their round of 16 fixture.
However, while admitting that Stanley Nwabali, Frank Onyeka and Victor Osimhen are nursing injuries, Chelle insisted that he will field a strong squad since all 28 players in camp are good enough.
He expatiated, “A lot of players want to play for this team, and I have to make my choices. They all deserve to play, so we’ll decide at our last training session before the game.”
Chelle went on to refute reports that he’s already planning ahead of the next round, insisting instead that the focus for now is only on how to defeat Uganda this Tuesday in Fès.
He reiterated, “I think this is the best tournament for us, and we are fully focused on what we want to achieve. We are only focused on our group and our team project.
“We have nothing to worry about, and we see nothing apart from what we aim at achieving. For sure, we want to win, and I’m looking at getting the best position for my team.”
However, while affirming that the target for Tuesday’s game is to win their third match in a row, Chelle hinted that two or three players might get to feature for the first time at AFCON 2025, as he believes anyone called upon would be up to the task.
The former coach of Mali and MC Oran of Algeria submitted, “A guy may only play for five minutes of AFCON or any tournament and bring victory by scoring the last goal.
“This is about management, not about respect for anyone in the tournament. Everybody deserves a chance to do something. For me, I want to put out the best team at this moment.
“I want to win this game, the players want to win, and everybody wants to win. So, I’ll try to pick the best players for the moment.”
