Sunday Oliseh: Africa Has Evolved, This Is the Best AFCON in 20 Years

Former Super Eagles Coach, Sunday Oliseh, has said that the ongoing African Cup of Nations Tournament is the best he has experienced in the past 20 years.

The 1994 AFCON winning team member said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, a day after Nigeria’s Super Eagles defeated South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in a penalty shootout that enabled the Nigerian team to qualify for the AFCON finals.

Oliseh said, “In the past 20 years, this is the best AFCON I have seen. And totally as regards teamwork, the way the teams play, and the intelligence, the practical knowledge of the African players has evolved so much.”

The coach then spoke on Nigeria’s victory against South Africa, saying that the win was very important for Nigerians as it helped to distract them from the ongoing issues in the country.

He said, “I must say in the first half, I was worried because the South Africans found loopholes everywhere in us. And if we had been 0-1 down at the first half, it would have been something that would have been a bit acceptable. But I must commend the attitude of the players, especially when it comes to individual talent.”

He went on to say that the Eagle’s win was a big relief for him, saying, “It’s a big relief for me because I was mocked a lot because of my FIFA colleagues during the World Cup for Nigeria’s absence. So, I’m really happy now, I can look at everybody in the face and say, yes, we are back.”

Speaking on the state of the teams play and the coach, he said “As regards the coach, I think we should all keep awake, we should not give him our backs. The man has done it till now, let him do his job.

“As regards the fact that we are dominated in the midfield, with the formation Nigeria is playing, you should be dominated. We play a very packed defence, we are practically playing five defenders. So that means that if you play five defenders, you must be missing players in the midfield, because you have to take from the midfield to cover the defence. So far, it’s gotten us this far, and in this tournament, very few teams have been able to pick us out like the way South Africa did in the first half.

“But the final is going to be a total different scenario, because every team knows that you just score one, you close the door, you margin with it.”

He then addressed the past unfulfilled promises that the Nigerian government had made to the Super eagles at different times over the years, saying, “It is in our culture. We get moved with the moment, what is happening, we all start to talk, we all start to make promises, and when the time comes to cash in, we will find out that something is missing in the bank. But that notwithstanding, we have to accept it like that. In fact, I will prefer they don’t promise, but the players come and they just give, because I think that will be better.”

Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi

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