John Mikel Obi, the ex-Super Eagles and Chelsea midfielder, expressed that Nigeria’s national team remains the perennial favourites for the AFCON title. The 36-year-old, a member of the victorious 2013 AFCON squad, emphasized that securing victory in Cote d’Ivoire would mark a crucial step for Nigeria to reclaim its prime position in African football.
He conveyed this during an interview with CAFOnline.
His words: “We are always favourites; this is every time we go into the tournament, and it’s no different this time. Everyone knows that we are one of the favourites—not the massive favourite, but definitely one of the favourites.
“To be able to do it again will be a massive achievement for us, which I think the country needs right now as well. We need to get our football back where it should be, and by winning this tournament, it will take it back to where it should be.”
“Football has changed dramatically, and I think this group of players are a good young team and play a different brand of football than we did, so let’s hope we can see a good performance from the Nigerian team.”
Nigeria has clinched the AFCON title three times in 1980, 1994, and 2013, while finishing as runners-up in 1984, 1988, 1990, and 2000.
The Super Eagles find themselves placed in Group A alongside the host nation, Cote d’Ivoire, as well as Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.
Nigeria will kick off their AFCON 2023 campaign with a match against Equatorial Guinea scheduled for January 14, 2024.
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