SportsThe Positives Of NFF Plans For Super Eagles

The Positives Of NFF Plans For Super Eagles

BEVERLY HILLS, May 11, (THEWILL) – In the wake of the disappointing double-header draws that the Super Eagles managed against the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers in November, Sunday Dare, the Honourable Minster of Youth and Sports Development, met with officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Tuesday, November 10, 2020, to review the Technical Report of the qualifiers.

The resolutions from that meeting have apparently borne fruit in the seriousness with which the rest of the qualifiers were handled that saw Nigeria top their group and qualify for AFCON before the final match as a result of the points-gap advantage they had over the rest of the group.

Now, the NFF is looking to take it a notch higher with the determination to seek strong opposition for friendly matches against the senior men’s national football team as a means to place the Super Eagles on a stronger pedestal ahead of the now delayed start of the group phase of the World Cup Qualifiers for Qatar 2022.

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Negotiations are presently ongoing to have countries on the continent with solid reputation in football, such as the Senegalese Lions of Teranga, who are the highest ranked African team in the latest Coca-Cola FIFA Rankings, the Black Stars of Ghana, ranked 7th in Africa and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, ranked 8th. There is the possibility that a few others outside Africa may be considered in the long run.

THEWILL recalls that in the international window in October last year, the Super Eagles played two of the high-ranking teams in Africa with a loss to the Desert Foxes of Algeria in the first match and a 1-1 draw against the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia.

However, Ademola Olajire, the media director of the Federation clarified that, although the NFF was hard at work to get these opponents on board for the friendlies and iron out the modalities involved, there was, currently, no concrete agreement on ground.

The qualifying hostilities for Qatar 2022 were expected to begin out of the group stages when the next international window opens next month with the first two fixtures until the Confederation of African Football (CAF), in collaboration with FIFA postponed the qualifiers existing windows of September, October and November 2021, and March 2022 due to the pandemic.

When the games resume, Nigeria will contend against Group C opponents Cape Verde, Central African Republic and Liberia for a chance to advance into the final playoff round of the Qatar World Cup. On paper, it appears an easy path lies ahead of the country’s road to Qatar but, as the AFCON qualifiers revealed, complacency is the best ingredient for failure.

THEWILL believes that this is why it is imperative to fast-track the process of securing these strong teams, on the continent and abroad, to give the Super Eagles a sure footing from whence to prosecute a successful qualifying campaign for the World Cup, in the first place, and to represent the country properly in Qatar, when they reach the world cup by going farther than they ever have before.

About the Author

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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

Jude Obafemi, THEWILLhttps://thewillnews.com
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

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