By Uzor Odigbo
Former Super Eagles legendary winger Segun Odegbami, has predicted that with the right mentality Nigeria will beat Cote d’Ivoire again in the final of the African Cup of Nations billed for Sunday in Abidjan.
Odegbami, an AFCON winner in 1980 said the Super Eagles going into the final remain the strongest side and the team need to be focused to get the job done in regulation time.
”The most important thing is to believe that you can be a champion and that you can win. That is the first major step. If you believe it start to do things you need to do and then act the part,” Odegbami told Channels TV.
“That is what the Super Eagles have managed to do as a team. Nobody believed that they could go this far before the tournament.
”The players are cool and confident, they take their time and have strolled through their games and at the end of the day we find the strongest team is the Super Super. It started from believing and on Sunday we are going to see all of that.”
He added that support for the Super Eagles would be crucial since they would be facing 60,000 Ivorien fans who would be rooting for their team to win.
“We have about 4 million Nigerians living in Cote d’ Ivoire and we want to go into the communities and mobilise them so that support from the Super Eagles doesn’t get drowned at the Stadium.
“That notwithstanding, the Super Eagles should be focused and play calmly, we must get the players to go there and play football.
“We beat them in the group, The Elephants have not been playing, they conceded that God is their 12 player.”
Team captain William Troost-Ekong agrees with Odegbami saying moments such as the final is what every player dreams of.
“You dream about moments like that,” Troost-Ekong said.
“I’ve seen it so many times. And I’ve closed my eyes. To actually be there on Sunday and have the chance to do that will be amazing.
