Former Super Eagles’ goalkeeper, Greg Etafia has theorised that the recent success story of Nigeria’s female national team at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco set a tough benchmark which the home-based male players have to emulate in their ongoing continental assignment.
Sports247 reports that, with the home-based players set to line out this Tuesday for their first competitive game as Eagles’ B-squad at the Championship of African Nations, Greg Etafia reasoned that they have no choice but to meet up to what the women have already done.
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However, Greg Etafia, who made top marks in goal for Plateau United of Jos before taking his trade to South Africa, warned that the CHAN Eagles will not find things easy in their group at the ongoing championship that is being co-hosted by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
The Moroka Swallows FC of South Africa keeper-turned-trainer pointed out, “It’s a serious group, based on the leagues in those countries. We’re talking about home-based players, those that play in their local leagues.”
He went on to analyse each of Nigeria’s Group D rivals one after the other, with specific references to the quality of their domestic leagues, and concluded that it will have many tough tussles.
Greg Etafia opined, “I just feel like the Senegalese league is very strong, and the Sudanese league, most especially, is also very strong.
“Sudan’s league is dominated by just two clubs, and their selection for CHAN will probably come from those two teams. That means they will have a good understanding of themselves.
“You can also not take away Congo, because they are always a tough team to play against. But, I believe that Nigeria too will try to do something.”
He concluded ahead of Nigeria’s opening match versus cup holders Senegal on Tuesday that the team being handled by Super Eagles’ technical adviser, Eric Sekou Chelle, has to keep in mind what the Falcons recently achieved with a historic 10th WAFCON title and aim to replicate that feat by winning CHAN 2024.
“The way I see it is that the Super Falcons have put this team in a tight corner because they’ve just won a tournament.
“They are still fresh from their success, and now the men are at CHAN. So, they have to get somewhere, for them to be recognised too,” Etafia submitted.
