The General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, says he is confident that the Super Eagles can equal or even surpass the feat achieved by Morocco at the ongoing World Cup in Qatar.
The Atlas Lions have been one of the surprise teams of the tournament, having beaten some top European teams to reach the semi-finals, the first time an African team will get to that stage.
The North Africans defeated Belgium, Canada and played a draw with Croatia to top Group F with seven points.
They went on to beat Spain and Portugal in the round of 16 and quarter-finals respectively to become the first African country to reach the semi-finals of football’s showpiece event in the world.
Walid Regragui’s side also boast the best defensive record in Qatar with only a goal conceded so far in five matches and will once again be tested on Wednesday when they face defending champions, France.
In contrast to Morocco’s feat at the World Cup, the Eagles have never made it past the round of 16, their best ever at USA 94 and France 98.
At the last edition in Russia in 2018, Gernot Rohr’s failed to make it out of the group stage after finishing third behind Croatia and Argentina, who finish first and second respectively.
But the three-time African champions failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup in Qatar after crashing out on the away-goal rule to perennial rivals Ghana, following a 1-1 aggregate score.
However, speaking after the inauguration of the Players Unions’ reconciliation committee, a five-man panel to fully restore peace to the rank of Nigeria’s retired and active football players on Monday, Sanusi said he was confident that Nigeria could do better than Morocco at the World Cups with a thriving atmosphere.
“Morocco has done exceedingly well for Africa at the ongoing FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar. Nigeria is capable of doing likewise and even better if we have a peaceful atmosphere in which all stakeholders work towards a common, noble goal,” Sanusi said.
Credit: punchng.com
