By Akinwale Kasali
By 2pm Nigerian time, Monday June 13, the Super Eagles of Nigeria will file out against ‘The Falcons and the True Parrots’ of São Tomé and Principe at the Agadir Stadium in Morocco for the 2023 CAF African Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The Coach Jose Peseiro- team is basking from the euphoria of its 2–1 triumph against the Sierra Leone National Team at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja, and will hoping to leverage on that triumph and secure the maximum point against São Tomé.
Before jetting out of Nigeria for the all important match, players of the Super Eagles had assured their teeming fans of a successful outing, promising to secure the maximum point and continue its 100 percent record in the qualifiers.
São Tomé on its part will be aiming to get back to winning ways after losing their first match 5-1 to Guinea Bissau in Bissau, the country’s Capital.
Knowing that another defeat will dim their chances of scaling through the qualification hurdles, the São Tomé National Team is planning to stage an upset by defeating the three-time African Cup of Nations Champions.
Nigeria’s delegation for today’s qualifying match against ‘The Falcons and True Parrots’ of São Tomé and Príncipe landed in the Southern Moroccan city of Agadir on Sunday morning.
The Air Peace airline’s Embraer 195 E2 which had flown the team to a number of match venues including from Morocco when they defeated Liberia in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Tangier, touched down at the Aeroport Agadir Almarissa at exactly 8.15am on Sunday, with a total of 25 players and technical and administrative crew.
The delegation was led by NFF 2nd Vice President, Mallam Shehu Dikko and also included the General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, a number of board members, a couple of NFF Management and Staff, a few stakeholders and some media representatives.
Peseiro said at the Aeroport Agadir Almarissa that the encounter against ‘The Falcons and True Parrots’ will bring the best out of his team as they seek to go top of the Group A table.
“We want to be the team at the top of the table, so we must fight hard against the opponents. Every match, we must commit ourselves fully to winning it. As I said earlier in the week, Nigeria have huge pedigree and they also have both quality and quantity of players. It is important that we select the best all the time to win the big games.”
Defender and deputy skipper William Ekong and midfielder Innocent Bonke have returned to their respective bases in England and France to attend to injuries copped during the international break.
It would be recalled that Bonke was injured in the friendly game against Mexico in Dallas on 28th May, while Ekong suffered a groin strain in the 2-1 defeat of Sierra Leone in Abuja last Thursday.
CAF has appointed Liberian official Hassen Zinnah Corneh as referee for the encounter, with his compatriots Joel Wonka Doe, Ephraim Grant Whengar and Moses Forkpah as assistant referee 1, assistant referee 2 and fourth official respectively.
Alim Konate Aboubakar from Cameroon will be match commissioner. The match starts at 1pm Morocco time.
