Sierra Leone captain Steven Caulker feels upbeat about his team’s chances against Nigeria in the opening fixture of Group A’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification round.
Sierra Leone will kick off their campaign against Nigeria later today at the M.K.O Abiola Stadium in Abuja. The Leone Stars are unbeaten in their last two meetings with Nigeria, including the 4-4 draw where they came back from a 4-0 deficit to stun Nigeria in Benin back in 2020.
Ahead of today’s encounter, Caulker has stated that the Leone Stars want to get off to a solid start against the Super Eagles. The former Tottenham star told reporters:
“We want to make a good start. We are going to play in the right way to compete with Nigeria.”
Despite admitting that Nigeria has the “big names,” Caulker believes his team is ready for the task against the three-time African champions, adding that they aim to collect all three points. The 30-year-old centre-back added:
“It’s all about the three points. We are aware they [Super Eagles] have a lot of big names in their team. We know they have quality players in their team, but it’s all about the three points and we are ready for the challenge.
“We are one of the smallest countries in Africa, but we have good team spirit. We are here to get three points and hopefully qualify from the group.”
