Babalola Oluwatomiwa
Social Member
Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, has predicted a tough outing for the Nigerian Team B as the 2016 kick off of CHAN draws nearer day after day.
The 2014 bronze medalists will be opening their campaign against Niger on the 18th of January at the African Nations Championship in Rwanda.
Nigeria first featured in the third edition of the biennial event in 2014 and ended the campaign in third place.
Coming off a 1-0 friendly defeat of Cote d'Ivoire on Monday, Oliseh has assured of his team's readiness for the tournament as he played down the categorization of the CHAN team as a Team B.
“We’ve had some knocks, but I think everybody is ready. Already most of them train with the so-called A team, because as far as I’m concerned we don’t have A or B. it is still about the same thing just that these ones ply their trade back home,” Oliseh told the SuperSport Blitzchannel.
However, Oliseh sees North African group opponents and 2011 winners Tunisia as a major threat due to the presence of first team players which he believes is going to be a tough match.
“Tunisia have won it because their league is a solid one, it’s no secret. They can afford to have even home-based players play in the first national team. We built our local league, it had a promising one in the season that just went by. It is going to be a very competitive tournament for Nigeria.”
The Super Eagles played three build up matches with two wins and a draw in their Pretoria camp to fine tune their preparation for the championship that begins this weekend in Kigali.
The 2014 bronze medalists will be opening their campaign against Niger on the 18th of January at the African Nations Championship in Rwanda.
Nigeria first featured in the third edition of the biennial event in 2014 and ended the campaign in third place.
Coming off a 1-0 friendly defeat of Cote d'Ivoire on Monday, Oliseh has assured of his team's readiness for the tournament as he played down the categorization of the CHAN team as a Team B.
“We’ve had some knocks, but I think everybody is ready. Already most of them train with the so-called A team, because as far as I’m concerned we don’t have A or B. it is still about the same thing just that these ones ply their trade back home,” Oliseh told the SuperSport Blitzchannel.
However, Oliseh sees North African group opponents and 2011 winners Tunisia as a major threat due to the presence of first team players which he believes is going to be a tough match.
“Tunisia have won it because their league is a solid one, it’s no secret. They can afford to have even home-based players play in the first national team. We built our local league, it had a promising one in the season that just went by. It is going to be a very competitive tournament for Nigeria.”
The Super Eagles played three build up matches with two wins and a draw in their Pretoria camp to fine tune their preparation for the championship that begins this weekend in Kigali.