Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick has praised the Super Eagles despite the team’s early exit from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, reports Completesports.com.
The Super Eagles started the competition on an impressive note winning all three group games, but were eliminated in the second round by Tunisia.
Pinnick in a series of tweets on Thursday, via his official Twitter handle @PinnickAmaju lauded the players, technical crew and the backroom staff for the work, noting that the team was only unlucky in the Round of 16.
…playing good football as well, we were unlucky in our Round of 16 match. Nevertheless, it was a brilliant showing by our team & showed the level of work the coaching crew put in. That has also been recognized by the latest @FIFAcom rankings placing Nigeria as the3rd best…”
Pinnick insists that qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is non-negotiable just as he disclosed that he met with Odion Ighalo who is making wave in Saudi Arabia scoring goals for the big clubs.
“Qatar 2022, in my opinion, is non-negotiable. Qualifying for the World Cup is our plan. Qualifying for next year’s AFCON is also built into our future plans.
“…this happens. I just met with @ighalojude, the highest goalscorer at the 2019 edition of the AFCON, now playing and still scoring goals for Saudi Arabia’s biggest football club. Odion has assured that playing for his country will always come first and he is ready to ensure…”
