The West African powerhouse must avoid a historic upset to advance to the final four stages of the competition
Super Eagles head coach Jose Peceiro has dismissed comments about Nigeria being favorites to take on Angola when the two teams meet in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, according to Soccernet. ng reported.
Nigeria will play Angola for the first time in AFCON history on Friday 2nd February at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan.
The West African giants, who have won the tournament three times, are the bookmakers’ choice to advance to the semi-finals against a team from Angola who have never made it to the last four.
Nevertheless, Peseiro believes both teams are on equal footing at the start of the match and both have a chance to win in the end.
However, the Portuguese tactician was confident of the Super Eagles team and that his men would see the match against Angola as their second final.
Peseiro hinted that Nigeria will beat Cameroon in the round of 16 to reach the final for the first time.
“Okay, I believe in my team, we believe in our team,” Peseiro said in a pre-match press conference monitored by Soccernet.ng.
“But this match will be played in the quarterfinals. This is our second final. We have already played the first final, the second final, and the third I want to play the final, and the fourth final, but for me, this match, this particular match, the match as a whole, each match 50% is not favoritism.
“Tomorrow you go there for me. Starting 0-0, you want to score, you want to suffer, you want to score, that’s all.”
Morocco, Senegal, Algeria and Egypt, all favorites to win the tournament, were eliminated from AFCON.
Nigeria is currently the highest ranked team of the eight teams remaining in the competition, while Angola is the lowest ranked team.
