Duro Ikhazuagbe
The current crop of Super Eagles in camp for the two 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the next one week against Rwanda and South Africa have insisted that they will not make the mistake the Class of 1998 made during the World Cup hosted by France.
Unlike in 1998 when Super Eagles were looking ahead to playing Brazil in the quarter-final instead of focusing on their Round of 16 clash with Denmark which they lost 1-4, Captain William Troost-Ekong and his teammates insisted yesterday that playing Rwanda on Saturday is their priority for now and not Group C leaders South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“You take one step at a time. We have Rwanda to play on Saturday, and there are three points there. After that is concluded, then we begin to think of South Africa. There are three points also in there when we play in Bloemfontein, but that is a few days after Rwanda. Rwanda comes first,” Captain Ekong told reporters in Uyo on Thursday evening.
The Super Eagles Captain stressed that having missed some crucial points in the early stage of the qualifying series, Nigeria can not afford to drop any point in the remaining four matches to pick the Group C ticket to the 48-nation finals in North America next summer.
“We will do our very best to go all out and win the remaining four matches. Hopefully, that will be good enough to take us there,” he emphasised.
Also speaking on the doubleheader with Rwanda and South Africa, new Besiktas midfield enforcer, Wilfred Ndidi, corroborated his Captain on the need to stay focused on the Amavubi game first.
“We are not looking at the game against South Africa yet, because the game against Rwanda is the most important one in our hands right now, and we can’t let it slip.
“If we let it slip, it’s finished. If we let the Rwanda game slip, there’s nothing like rivalry in South Africa. We have to win the game against Rwanda first, then we focus on the game against South Africa.”
Similarly, Fulham midfielder, Alex Iwobi, said the players are excited, and looking forward to securing a vital victory for Nigeria against Rwanda.
“The mood is good in camp. Everyone is feeling good and optimistic. We are all looking forward to the game.
“We are excited to play our first game against Rwanda. Hopefully we can prepare well and get the result we want. After that, we can think about the game against South Africa which is also very important.”
In the same vein, Lazio star, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, revealed that the team will not give up on their World Cup dreams following their poor start to the qualifiers.
“I think all the players, the coaching staff and all the fans, we all have the same expectations for these upcoming games, which is to win the games (against Rwanda, and South Africa).
“We are in a difficult situation now. Six points off the top. But I think everyone knows what we need to do and that’s what we are going to work towards.
“The squad is complete, I think, then the work really starts. And I’m confident we’ll get the job done,” concluded.
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