CHIMAOBI UCHENDU
Super Eagles of Nigeria will depart Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, for Sfax, Tunisia, eight o’clock in the morning on Monday for the return leg of the AFCON 2019 qualifiers. Eagles beat Libya 4-0 in Uyo on Saturday and are in dire need of victory over the Mediterranean Knights to keep hope of playing in the championship alive.
The Crest can confirm that the Tuesday match will start 7pm Nigerian time while the Super Eagles will fly out to Tunisia from Uyo by 8am on a chartered flight.
Eagles German handler, Gernot Rohr told journalists in Uyo Sunday evening that his side would be stronger than what football-loving Nigerian fans saw at the Nest of Bird Stadium, Uyo on Saturday.
Rohr said: “We will have to be stronger if we are to achieve the double over Libya. We had a better team in Uyo but we have to do much more in Tunisia. We can’t afford to lose as we have to keep the pressure on South Afica.”
Should the North Africans avenge the Uyo loss, they will topple the Eagles from the second slot while South Africa who are sure to beat Seychelles away will continue to enjoy Group E driver’s seat.
“We have to win again,” the coach said. “It is not over yet. Libya played well here and they would have scored. They have good fighting spirit. But we didn’t underrate them.”
The two top teams in the group will automatically pick the tickets for the championship in Cameroon in June, next year.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has sent an advanced party to Tunisia to ensure a hitch-free arrangement for the Eagles to soar when they arrive Sfax on Monday.