AFCON: Eric Chelle focused on Nigeria victory over Mozambique

Eric Chelle the head coach of Nigeria senior men national team has echoed the team’s focus on winning their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Round of 16 match against the Mambas of Mozambique on Monday.

​The three-time champions are one of only two countries to maintain a 100% record in the competition. Having won all three group games, they are looking to carry that momentum into the knockout stage.

​Speaking during the pre-match press conference, Chelle noted that the team is eager to avoid an upset in the Round of 16 and progress to the quarter-finals.

“We want to win the next game. If God gives us the chance to go to the quarterfinal, we will think about the quarterfinal.

But now we think about this game against Mozambique and for sure we want to win this game. To answer your question, yeah we are under pressure.”

The gaffer also touched on the lessons he learned from his disappointing experience coaching Mali at the 2023 AFCON. He reflected on the heartbreak of that tournament, which saw his Mali side knocked out by hosts Côte d’Ivoire, despite the Ivorians playing with 10 men for most of the match.

“Since this AFCON started I’ve tried to be more focus, more concentrated, more calm and I try to analyse during a game and after the game I try to forget about what happened around the team and around me,” he said in his pre-match presser on Sunday.

Like I said everytime about my philosophy and project, so I try to be focus and calm so these are my lessons.

I don’t know if it is an advantage but the reality is there will be two teams on the pitch and the question is if my team will be ready for this fight and like I said we are focus on this team Mozambique.”

The last time the Super Eagles won all three group games (AFCON 2021), they were eliminated by Tunisia in the Round of 16. The West Africans are desperate to avoid a repeat of that experience this time around.

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