AFCON 2023: Eagles prepared to fly over Elephants today – Peseiro

Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro has said the three-time champions are prepared to get the maximum points when they battle hosts, Ivory Coast today.

At yesterday’s pre-match conference in Abidjan, Peseiro disclosed that hard-as-nails midfielder Alhassan Yusuf, who impressed against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday, is out of reckoning due to injury he copped in the encounter. “Yusuf is out of the game tomorrow. He is fine but not ready for tomorrow’s match. He will be ready for the last group match.”

Peseiro stated further: “We have what it takes to win the game tomorrow and there’s nothing to change in my team because we created lot of goalscoring opportunities in our game against Equatorial Guinea and we hope to utilise the opportunities this time and score goals.”

Nigeria and hosts Côte d’Ivoire clash in one of the most anticipated matches of the 34th Africa Cup of Nations today in a 60,000-capacity stadium that organisers say will be filled to the brim just before kick-off. It is the Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara in Ebimpe, outside Abidjan, where both teams played their first games of the competition with differing fortunes.

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The Elephants celebrated a 2-0 win over Guinea Bissau’s Wild Dogs on the opening day of the tournament, while the Eagles forced Equatorial Guinea’s Thunder to a 1-1 draw on Day 2.

In the same vein, Cote D’Ivoire captain, Max Alain Gradel has said his side is not afraid of any opponent.

Gradel, who has 105 caps and was part of the Elephants’s squad that won the trophy in Equatorial Guinea in 2015, said: “We are Cote d’Ivoire. We respect all our opponents. But we fear nobody. We will do what we have to do.

“It is a special moment for us to play the Africa Cup of Nations in our home, with the support of our people. We will do everything to make the people proud. We have super players in the squad, especially for what they bring to the group. It is a decisive match; it is an important match. We know what we have to do,” he said.