With what is widely considered a favourable draw, Nigeria is already looking beyond next month's African playoffs for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
But football analysts have cautioned against over-confidence on the part of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, who perceive Ethiopia - their opponent in the Africa's final qualifying round for the World Cup - as an easy team.
Reacting to the draw for the final phase of the African qualifying, which was held in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said it had no doubt that Nigeria would beat Ethiopia over two legs to pick one of the five African tickets to the World Cup.
“We have a 100 per cent chance of advancing and qualifying, because in Africa today no team can overcome or subdue us,' NFF's Assistant Technical Director James Peters told the local media.
But another NFF official was less boastful.
Chairman, NFF's Technical Committee Christopher Green warned against premature celebration on the basis of the draw.
Reacting to the draw for the final phase of the African qualifying, which was held in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said it had no doubt that Nigeria would beat Ethiopia over two legs to pick one of the five African tickets to the World Cup.
“We have a 100 per cent chance of advancing and qualifying, because in Africa today no team can overcome or subdue us,' NFF's Assistant Technical Director James Peters told the local media.
But another NFF official was less boastful.
Chairman, NFF's Technical Committee Christopher Green warned against premature celebration on the basis of the draw.
He said the draw against Ethiopia was a 'little tricky because at this level and stage of the World Cup qualifiers, you can never take any team for granted'
'It is not easy to get to this stage of the qualifiers and these teams have worked very hard to get to this stage and there is little or no difference between Nigeria and Ethiopia at the stage we are now, because all the teams that got to this stage are fully motivated to pick the 2014 World Cup ticket..
'Yes, I agree with the fact that Ethiopia has never beaten us (Nigeria) in any competitive match till date. But we shouldn’t take anything for granted because anything can happen in the game of football.
“What is important for us is to work very, very hard to get the World Cup ticket. It is also very important for us as (NFF) to formulate a very good policy that can make us work hard and get the desired World Cup ticket,” Green said.
The first leg of the five playoffs will be played in October and the return leg in November, with the aggregate winners qualifying for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July.
No comments:
Post a Comment