Nigeria will put her strongest foot forward right from kick off against Libya’s Mediterranean Knights in Saturday evening’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Akwa Ibom Stadium in Uyo.
Coach Gernot Rohr underscored the No-Option-To-Victory stance on Thursday, and has instructed his charges to dig deep into their reserves and replicate what they did against African champions Cameroon in a similar situation 11 months ago.
In a Matchday 3 fixture of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying series at the same venue, visiting Indomitable Lions (who had spectacularly won the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and featured at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia) were understandably installed as favourites against the Super Eagles.
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Yet, Nigeria went ahead to spank Cameroon 4-0 and led for 75 minutes in the return leg in Yaounde few days later before the Lions equalized from the penalty spot.
Its another Matchday 3 encounter and another quick home-and-away experience, though this time, it is in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying race and the opponents are Libya.
Gernot Rohr is calling on stand –in skipper Ahmed Musa and the rest of the squad to earn a credible result on Saturday and go ahead to dig their feet into the ground in the return in Sfax on Tuesday.
“I believe we have the players here to earn a decent result and then go and give their all in Libya for another credible outcome.
We need the points now; we cannot pretend about that. If we pick the points in these two games, we will be very close to the AFCON ticket.
“It was good winning in Seychelles the way we did. We got the result we needed and it should serve as a good motivation to continue winning when we play Libya.”