Super Eagles interim coach, Austin Eguavoen, says his already-qualified team has no reason to look down on their opponents or approach the game in a carefree manner when they take to the pitch of Stade Roumdé Adjia in Garoua against the Wild Dogs of Guinea Bissau tomorrow.
Nigeria has eased into the Round of 16 as group leaders, with a match to spare, courtesy of the wins over Egypt and Sudan in their two matches and the combination of other results, notably Egypt’s defeat of Guinea Bissau on Saturday.
Yet, Eguavoen said his team would deduct nothing from their consolidated one-match-at-a-time and win-all strategy adopted for the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations, even as there is no serious pressure going into that final group phase encounter.
“It is important for us to sustain the winning mentality while we keep our heads on our shoulders. Just as I told the boys after the match against Egypt, we are yet to win anything here except points. Guinea Bissau need the three points because they have only one so far and we must be prepared for a massive fight.
“If we let down our guard, we could be punished, and that would not be good for the team’s psychology. We will go for the three points.”
Guinea Bissau drew 0-0 with Sudan in their first match, losing a penalty awarded to them late in the game, and then fell to a Mohamed Salah goal in a match they gave their all and even felt they should have been awarded an equaliser that was canceled late in the encounter.
“With a little more luck, they could have beaten Sudan and could have drawn with Egypt. That is the kind of opposition we face on Wednesday. Nobody will tell me they’re pushovers,” added Eguavoen.