Chairman, Kogi State Football Association, Hassan Wada, has expressed optimism that the Super Eagles of Nigeria will win the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament on Sunday.
Speaking to TalkFooty in Abidjan, Wada noted that while their are no minnows in today’s football, he has no fear that the Nigerian national team will defeat Cote D’viore who his described as “accidental finalists”.
The passionate football administrator stated that he had visited the Super Eagles camp on a couple of time to assure the players that Kogi supporters are fully behind them.
“By providence, the only home-based member of the Super Eagles squad, Olorunleke Ojo, is from Kogi state. He is a goalkeeper and captain of Enyimba FC. Olorunleke is from a footballing family. His wife. Tosin Ojo, is a member of the Kogi State Football Association. The chief security officer of the Super Eagles, Adejoh Musa, is also on the board of Kogi State FA.
“The team’s victory on Sunday will no doubt motivate us as we move to raise the standard of football in the state,” he said.
Speaking on Super Eagles’ shaky preparations ahead of the AFCON tournament, Wada said the national team has mastered the art of “mode switch”.
“We should not take away the quality in our national team. The Super eagles are not a local brand but world class.
“When it comes to football tournaments, you cannot get a better side in Africa than Nigeria. When we go for tournaments, we know how to switch our minds from qualifiers to tournament mode. What has changed at this point is that they switched from the qualification and friendlies mode to tournament mode.
“If you spend time and look at the quality in the Nigerian national team, safe for one or two players, the rest are playing for top teams in the top leagues. At any given time, if it comes to personnel to get the job done, the Super Eagles of Nigeria have always had that.
“If you look at our records at the African Nations Cup, the Super Eagles has lifted the cup three times, played in the semi-finals 17 times, won silver four times and settled for third place 8 times. that is not a small feat. Nigeria has a formidable squad that knows how to win and by the grace of God, we will remind Nigerians and the whole world that we are the Super Eagles on Sunday.”
