AFCON: Nigeria coach Chelle gutted to play in third-place playoff

Nigeria national team coach Eric Chelle shared his thoughts ahead of their Africs Cup of Nations (AFCON) third-place playoff against Egypt, admitting his frustration at missing out on the final in Morocco.

The Super Eagles will bid for a ninth AFCON bronze medal when they take on the Pharaohs, who have won the bronze medal three times previously. This will be the 10th meeting between the two sides at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Nigeria’s first AFCON meeting with Egypt came in the opening match of the 1963 tournament, a nine-goal thriller won 6-3 by Egypt. The Egyptians raced into a 5-0 lead before Nigeria scored their first goal.

Mohamed Morsi Hossein and Hassan Ahmed El-Shazly both scored hat-tricks. Sudan and Egypt progressed to the semi-finals, while Nigeria were eliminated at the group stage.

‘I’m disappointed to be here’

“To be honest, I’m disappointed to be here because my ambitions for this tournament were much higher,” Chelle told reporters ahead of the game. “After our defeat to Morocco, I reminded my players to keep their heads up because they had an excellent tournament.”

On facing Egypt for bronze medal, the Malian coach said: “We have the last game we have to do a good game; we have to look for winning because we did a great tournament so we have to go back with the third place,” added Chelle.

“I try to bring my philosophy to this team. It was going well until the semifinal, then in semi we missed a lot of things in that match, technically, tactically physically.

“It is not easy against a tough team (Morocco). But we have a match to play against Egypt. We will do everything to win this match against Egypt.”

He concluded: “Personally, that (winning bronze) will be a positive. Egypt is a team who have big qualities, team spirit, solidarity, big individuals capable of making the difference, medium block, conditions, it will be a beautiful match to play.”

Nigeria and Egypt will contest the 32nd AFCON third place play-off.