Afcon 2023: Ivorian vows to clip Eagles’ wing as Peseiro and Ekong beg Nigerians to back Our Boys

Cote d’Ivoire manager, Jean-Louis Gasset, has already identified the Super Eagles' weaknesses his team will exploit when they face Nigeria in their second Group A game at the Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday.

The Elephants kicked off their campaign on a winning note defeating Guinea-Bissau 2-0 in front of an elated Abidjan crowd at the Ebimpe stadium, thanks to goals from Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso, while Nigeria needed a quick-fire equaliser from Victor Osimhen to spare the Eagles a shock defeat against Equatorial Guinea in their opening game on Sunday.

Osimhen drew the Eagles level two minutes after Iban Salvador’s opener in the 36th minute.

The Eagles face a daunting task against hosts Cote d’Ivoire, who are aiming to book their place in the round of 16 and also extend an unbeaten run of two games against the Elephants.

Gasset’s side currently leads Group A and are favourites to win the encounter, with the Eagles facing an injury crisis with Alhassan Yusuf and Kelechi Iheanacho major doubts for the encounter

Speaking ahead of the game, Gasset admitted that the game won’t be a stroll in the park but added that the Elephants would exploit the Eagles' lapses in their encounter against Equatorial Guinea.

 “We know Nigeria’s strengths and their weaknesses,” Gasset said.

“Their attacking line-up is impressive and their striker (Victor Osimhen) is the best in Africa but when they play they isolate him, so we will play that way to isolate him as well.

“But we will have to improve but having got the opening match pressure off, I’m sure my players will step up.”

Meanwhile, Super Eagles Coach, Jose Peseiro and the team captain, William Troost-Ekong, have assured Nigerians that the team would make it out of Group A of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations despite their inability to beat Equatorial Guinea in their opening game on Sunday.

The Portuguese, during the post-match conference, said his team were simply unlucky on the day and would correct their mistakes on Thursday when they take on the hosts, Cote d’Ivoire.

He said: “We hoped to win this match and we did everything to win. This draw doesn’t suit us.

“Our team created a lot of chances, but we didn’t score. We hope that next time, even with fewer opportunities, we will score. We simply must improve our finishing.”

Peseiro said Nigeria would beat Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday if they create the same number of chances as they did against Equatorial Guinea.

Sunday’s draw was the third in competitive internationals for the Super Eagles, after two disappointing results in their opening two World Cup qualifiers in November. They were held at home by Lesotho and then drew away against Zimbabwe.

“We need to improve finishing, but it is not as if the players meant to miss their chances,” he said while blaming the hot and humid conditions for slowing down his team.

On the crunch battle against the hosts, Peseiro said, the expected hostile atmosphere would suit his players.

“I think my players prefer to play in front of 60,000 rather than the 8,000 we had today,” he said.

On Southampton loanee, Paul Onuachu, who joined the team six hours before the game, Peseiro said the decision to play the lanky striker was purely tactical.

“The other time the question was why Onuachu played, now is why I didn’t bring him on earlier. Onuachu arrived today at 4.30 a.m., he didn’t do any training with us.

“We didn’t assess him well before the match. I brought on Onuachu because there was no organization, he’s a guy strong in the air. It’s not easy putting in a player that arrived 4.30 a.m., and 6.00 a.m. in the hotel.”

Also speaking on the game against Equatorial Guinea, stand-in captain, William Troost-Ekong, urged Super Eagles’ fans to continue to support the team, saying that their best was yet to come.

“I just want to say thank you for the support, for the guys that came out there. Of course, we’re disappointed. We feel the same way as you guys. We wanted to win today, but I think we have to look at the positives,” Ekong said.

“Don’t give up on us. We would have won handsomely if we scored all the goal-scoring chances we created. We promise a better outing against Cote d’Ivoire.”

Nigeria’s second group game will be held at the Alhassan Quattara Stadium on Thursday by 5.00 p.m.