… We must be aggressive — Chelle
… No cause for alarm — Ndidi
Nigeria’s head coach, Eric Chelle, has said that the Super Eagles are condemned to beat the Barea of Madagascar today in their group L opener of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 5pm at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, and Chelle has also warned his men to be aggressive towards getting the desired result.
Though Nigeria had three wins and one draw in their last five encounters against Madagascar, the Barea silenced the Super Eagles 2-0 in their last meeting on June 30, 2019, at the Alexandria Stadium, Egypt, in a 2019 group B AFCON fixture.
Chelle insists that the Super Eagles have no option but to subdue their opponents today.
“We have to show everyone from Day One that we want victory. The only way to do that is to go for it with our hearts, and refuse to slow down at any point. We must go for the points without any hesitation.
“We are in Uyo. I want Madagascar to come here and know that they are playing in Nigeria. I want my players to be very aggressive, put in a lot of intensity,” Chelle said.
The former coach of Mali stated that coaching Nigeria gives him satisfaction.
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“We have to move forward, to try to forget what happened last year [2026 World Cup miss], to be ambitious at every moment, every training session, and every game.
“Part of why I’m staying on the job is because the Super Eagles is the best team in Africa,” Chelle, who coached Nigeria to win the bronze at the 2025 AFCON, told reporters in Uyo.
Meanwhile, captain of the Super Eagles, Wilfred Ndidi, believes the three-time African champions will do the needful this time.
Group L is left with only one ticket owing to the presence of one of the host countries, Tanzania, already with an automatic spot, and Ndidi said the team will remain focused.
“We will try as much as possible to get as many points as we can; it does not matter how many teams qualify. We want to qualify.
“We know the experience of the last World Cup qualifiers when we started poorly, but it will never happen again.
“This is a focused team, and we are planning to set the momentum because the first game is the most important game in every qualifier. We will do our best; we are ready for it,” the Besiktas midfielder said.
Nigeria, after today’s tie, will head for Morocco to face the Wild Dogs of Guinea-Bissau in their matchday two fixture in the race to 2027 AFCON.
