Nigeria’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations success will depend a lot on the physical state of the Players according to NFF Technical Director Augustine Eguavoen.
On Tuesday the Super Eagles were drawn in Group D alongside Egypt, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau for the AFCON, it gets underway in January and Eguavoen told FL Manager Gernot Rohr has enough to succeed in Cameroon.
The former CB, who himself won the AFCON title, did however describe the challenge the Eagles must surmount to go the extra mile.
At the last tournament Rohr’s team lost in the semi-final to eventual winners Algeria.
Eguavoen identified the physical demand of African football as one key area the Super Eagles – prominent with foreign based players – must ensure they address.
‘African football is still very physical and for the most part winning it has a lot to do with how tough the players are among other things,’ the NFF Director told FL.
‘As we all know, the bulk of our team are players based abroad. Over there football is very technical while here it’s more about strength. So I think one area we need to work on is the physical state of the players.’
‘The difference between the conditions in Europe and over here is like daylight. So there’s also need to adjust to what factors are prevalent here if we will stand a chance against the best teams in Africa.’
