Continental championships are always full of surprises and the Ivorian legend warns his compatriots not to become complacent
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has encouraged the Ivory Coast national team to do their best if they face Nigeria and other teams in the 2023 African Cup of Nations or face elimination, Soccernet reports. ng reported.
Ivory Coast will host the rest of the continent next month and is expected to pass through a relatively comfortable Group A.
The elephants were grouped with three-time winners Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.
Nigeria will be Ivory Coast’s biggest opponent in the group. The Super Eagles boast the best attack power in Africa, led by Victor Osimhen, the newly crowned Player of the Year.
In addition to Osimhen, Nigeria has named strikers who have performed well in Germany, Italy, France, England and Spain in their squad for the qualifying tournament, making the Super Eagles a difficult hurdle to overcome with each passing day. ing.
However, Equatorial Guinea could also be a difficult opponent. The National Thunder has qualified for his AFCON only four times, but in 2015 he placed 4th, in 2012 and in 2021 he reached the quarterfinals, making a big impression. I left.
Guinea-Bissau have never made it past the group stage at AFCON, but Jultus could spring a surprise after defeating Nigeria 1-0 in qualifying in Abuja.
And Drogba warned his compatriots to take all group games seriously, especially the draw with Nigeria, to avoid an embarrassing early exit.
The 2012 UEFA Champions League winner told the BBC: “All these teams deserve to be in the competition and will try to play well.”
“Nigeria will play a big role with Victor Osimhen and other great players from around the world as we aim to win this trophy.”
Ivory Coast will host the 2023 AFCON finals from January 13th to February 11th.
