Mozambique and Nigeria willsquare up in an African NationsChampionship (Chan) game atthe Cape Town Stadium thisWednesday.
Both teams know they will have
to win to keep alive their chances
of reaching the quarterfinal
stage of the tournament after
losing their opening games.
The Mozambicans were defeated
1-3 by South Africa in the
tournament's opening match
while the Nigerians surprisingly
lost 1-2 to their Malian
counterparts.
Nigeria's Super Eagles go into
this game as favourites, as they
have not lost in their last three
meetings against the Mambas of
Mozambique.
In three previous international
matches, Nigeria have defeated
Mozambique twice in 2009 and
2010 with the other tie ending
goalless.
Already, Mozambique head
coach, Joao Chissano, has
deflected the pressure off his
team by insisting that Nigeria are
condemned to win.
“The (Super) Eagles are the big
brothers in Africa, the African
champions and the coach
(Stephen Keshi) is the African
Coach of the Year. We don’t have
any of those accolades, so the
pressure is on Nigeria not
Mozambique.
“With their massive fans and the
Vuvuzelas, Nigeria will again be
under pressure to perform as
African champions,” Chissano
said.
Chissano will be banking on the
like of Diogo Alberto, Josemar
Machaisse, Dario Khan, Guilherme
Manhique and Francisco Miocha
to give Nigeria a run for the
points.
Keshi, on the other hand, believes
his men now recognises the
importance attached to the game
against Mozambique after their
opening day loss to Mali.
"The pressure was massive and I
expected this type of happening
but I am certain they now know
they have to satisfy themselves
and have confidence in
themselves.
"We have lost the opening game
and we have to forget that and
fight for qualification in the
remaining two games," Keshi
said.
It is expected that the Nigerian
manager might overhaul his
starting team for the
Mozambique match after their
leggy start to the tournament.
The Mozambique versus Nigeria
match is live on SuperSport 4 and
Select from 7.45pm CAT (6.45pm
Nigerian time).
Created at 2014-01-15 05:59:43
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