As the countdown gets hotter towards Sunday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification play-off final in Rabat, Morocco – between Nigeria and DR Congo – a charge has gone out to the Super Eagles to start the game with the 30 minutes’ blitz that gave them a 4-1 spanking of Gabon on Thursday.
This charge came from the General-Secretary of Lagos State Football Referees Association, Dele Atoun, while airing his views on several topical issues affecting Nigerian football during ‘Inside Naija Sports,’ a live streaming programme on YouTube.
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Atoun added while featuring as special guest on ‘Hot Seat’ segment of the lively programne, which starts at 2:15pm every Friday in the television studio of Sports247 Naija, that the Eagles must come out smoking from begin till the end of Sunday’s decisive game, in order for them to overwhelm The Leopards.
The highly articulate referee, who is also a media practitioner, stressed: “What I want from this game is … let there be early goals. At the same time, I believe our team is hungry, and I expect them to be the hungrier of both teams.
“I also hope that their conversion rate this time will be better, because we missed many chances against Gabon, which could have ruined the match for us. I hope that does not happen on Sunday and we will romp to victory.”
The fair-skinned arbiter, whose surname, when translated into English from Ekiti dialect, means ‘Arranger,’ projected beyond Sunday’s game to the intercontinental play-offs and reasoned that it would be easier at that stage once the Eagles scale DR Congo’s hurdle on Sunday.
“I believe this CAF phase of the play-offs will be tougher than the intercontinental level. So, if we can qualify at this point, we should be 90% at the World Cup.
“Though the remaining 10% could still be tricky, we just have to win this one on Sunday. I see us beating DR Congo, but we have to come out smoking.
“This time, let’s start the way we played the last 30 minutes against Gabon. They must turn the tempo round this time and play from the start how they played the extra time on Thursday,” Atoun stressed.
