Captain William Ekong has assured that there will be no diffidence in the Super Eagles’ play when they take on South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in a potentially-explosive 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Bloemfontein on Tuesday night.
The defender, who was voted Man of the Competition at last year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cote d’Ivoire, said the Eagles will also not be thinking of their penalty shootout defeat of the Bafana at that competition’s semi-final stage.
“We defeated them at the Africa Cup but that is in the past and some changes have been made to both teams since then. Our approach will be devoid of arrogance; we will play with level heads and go all out for victory. There will be no arrogance but we will not be diffident either.
“South Africa is a good team that we respect but we just have to go on the pitch and play our game. Our objective has not changed; we want to go to the FIFA World Cup finals next year.”
Coach Eric Chelle said he will be putting his best foot forward from the first blast of Gabonese referee Pierre Ghislain Atcho’s whistle at the Toyota Stadium.
“We have come here to play for the three points, so we will be sending out the team that will get the job done. We are happy to have overcome Rwanda but we have to conquer here tomorrow in order to be in a good position for the qualification.”
Although Nigeria started the race poorly, Chelle has picked seven points out of nine in his three games with the squad and believes the group he has been working with has the capacity to turn things on its head and leave Bafana Bafana in the ditch.
After Monday’s official training at the Toyota Stadium, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Tope Ajayi charged the Super Eagles to enact their best game and pluck the three points on the day.
“I have the confidence that we will win, and many South Africans also believe that Nigeria will win. We should go out there and play with gusto, confidence and courage, and refuse to be intimidated by anything.
“When the Super Falcons came here to play the Banyana Banyana, I told them before the game that I could see them returning to the Olympics after 16 years, and they did. Now, I am telling you that I am seeing you at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and it will be so.”
Tuesday’s game will kick off at 6pm South Africa time (5pm in Nigeria).
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