Technical director of the Super Eagles, Augustine Eguavoen, has said he is not under pressure to see the national team through to the world cup scheduled to hold in Qatar later in the year.
The Ghana- Nigeria tie ended in an uneventful goalless draw as both sides were guilty of a lethargic display and lack of cutting edge at the attacking end of the pitch in their World Cup qualifying playoff tie last Friday.
Speaking at a pre-match conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Eguavoen disclosed that he understood the level of expectation ahead of the crunch tie and assures Nigerians of his squad picking the golden ticket.
“Expectations are high, Nigerians, football lovers and Super Eagles supporters have been praying and cheering for the team, they should continue in that manner,” he said.
“We can promise them at the end of the day we will make everyone happy, keep the support high, fill up the stadium and support Nigeria.”
Asked if he was under pressure to deliver, the 56-year-old affirmed ” I am not under any pressure, I am representing all Nigerian coaches but old and young, we want to collectively be in Qatar that is the message, once we cross the line everybody will be jubilating.”
Giving an update on the injury situation of Innocent Bonke and Villareal winger, Samuel Chukwueze, 1994 Africa Nations Cup winner confirmed the pair were under assessment
“Innocent Bonke and Samuel Chukwueze are all under observation as the state of Chukwueze, he had undergone a scan and the results are yet to be revealed”
“Bonke is not participating in training as he had a knock as he worked too hard. We have enough personnel on the team to deliver the ticket.”
Similarly, Nantes winger, Moses Simon, stated that he was confident his side would scale through despite the goalless draw at Kumasi
“The game against Ghana was difficult because we know how Ghana can play and it was all tactics and we decided to retreat because a point is enough for us because when they come here they will take it, “Simon said.
Meanwhile, Coach of the Black stars, Otto Addo revealed his side needed to improve on their last performance to stand a chance of qualification.
The Ghanaian contingent had arrived Monday afternoon aboard a chartered aircraft at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport and had a contingent of 25 players, technical crew members, and officials of the Ghana Football Association.
“We have to improve and limit the Nigerian chances and we should try to score. We had some chances and if we improve on that we can start scoring,” coach Addo said.
He also noted that he also felt no pressure like his counterpart but saw it as a privilege
“Pressure for me is a privilege as the coach of the Ghana National team, 20 million Ghanaians will like to be here so I consider it a privilege.”
“This is no pressure but surely we want to qualify, so I told the guys to go out there and have fun, if we make mistakes you can take it on me, we will try to play football surely and we try to score and try to win.”
M.K.O Abiola is the venue for the decider between both sides at 6 pm.
