Days after racing to a 10th triumph in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), Nigeria will on Tuesday begin another quest for a continental title when the home-based senior men’s team, Super Eagles B, take on Cup holders Senegal in the opening match of Group B of the eighth African Nations Championship.
The tournament began in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda on Saturday and will run till 30 August.
Playing in their fourth tournament, Nigeria have never won the CHAN, winning a bronze medal in 2014 and runners-up four years later.
The team also failed to qualify for the last two editions before beating Ghana to this year’s ticket.
Nigeria are in Group B, where they will face Senegal, Sudan and Congo.
Led by Franco-Malian coach Eric Chelle, Nigeria’s quest for a major title will be driven by players like goalkeeper Ozoemena Ani, defenders Sodiq Ismaila and Junior Nduka, midfielder Alex Oyowah and forwards Anas Yusuf and Sikiru Alimi, who were in the squad that turned back Ghana’s Black Galaxies 3-0 on aggregate in the qualifiers.
There have been excellent additions like Steven Mayo and Leonard Ngenge in the defence, Adedayo Olamilekan, Hadi Haruna and Michael Tochukwu in the midfield, and Temitope Vincent, Shola Adelani and Godwin Obaje in the attack.
Chelle has spoken of belief and self-confidence among his 23-man squad, who spent three weeks at a training camp in Ikenne-Remo and another 10 days in Zanzibar. They won all three build-up games in Ikenne, Ogun State, before being held to two draws (0-0 and 2-2) by Zanzibar in their last two pre-tournament friendlies.
At the 15,000-capacity Amaan Stadium on Tuesday, Chelle will go for the maximum points to underscore Nigeria’s ambition, as well as to diminish anxiety ahead of the clashes with Sudan and Congo.
Joint-host Tanzania took the first three points of the tournament on Saturday, beating Burkina Faso 2-0 in their group B encounter at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
