By Daily Sports Nigeria on January 30, 2024

Super Eagles coach José Peseiro has warned his players to manage the euphoria of their quarter-final qualification at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast ahead of a potentially-tough last-8 clash with Angola on Friday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Nigeria took one step closer to a fourth AFCON title in Ivory Coast by beating arch rivals Cameroon 2-0 at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium on Saturday, thus setting up the clash against the Palancas Negras, who thumped 10-man Namibia 3-0.

The Portuguese coach said he had continued to sing it to the players that the team was yet to win anything, and that full consciousness and concentration must be activated ahead of the encounter.

“I am telling them that we are only in the last-8, that we still have some way to go, and that the farther we go, the tougher the opposition becomes. We have played four matches and won three, so we must keep level heads as we go forward,” Peserio told nff.com

“Our philosophy is that there are no small teams here at the Africa Cup. Every team qualified to be here, and every team in the knockout phase qualified from a group phase. Any team in the last-8 is good enough for the trophy. We believe we are good enough for the trophy, but we must continue working and putting out our best on match days.”

Peseiro, who has been vocal about his desire to win the AFCON for Nigeria also hailed his team’s defensive abilities as they have only conceded one goal throughout the tournament.

“Against Cameroon we got an excellent win, in yet another game without conceding a goal and where our boys were huge. Great spirit and humility. Once again they made Nigeria proud.

“I want to just win every game, I don’t know what Nigerians think about names in football but if we must defeat Angola, we must play better than we did against Cameroon,” Peseiro told journalists in Abidjan.

Nigeria will face Angola for a place in the semi-finals on Friday at 6pm Nigerian time.

Source Punch Ng

Posted January 30, 2024

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