Coach Eric Sekou Chelle has acknowledged that the Super Eagles face a tough challenge against Zimbabwe in their 2026 World Cup qualifier Matchday 6 clash at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo this evening.
The Franco-Malian tactician kicked off his tenure with a 2-0 victory over Rwanda in Kigali last Friday, securing the Super Eagles’ first win of the campaign after managing just three points from their opening four matches.
Prior to that win, the team endured a frustrating run, drawing three consecutive games against Lesotho (1-1), Zimbabwe (0-0), and South Africa (1-1), before suffering a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Benin.
With the bounce against Rwanda, Chelle said the next game this evening against Zimbabwe is not going to be as easy as ABC.
“The second game (against Zimbabwe) now is the most important,” the 47-year-old Chelle, told journalists at his press conference in Uyo. “ I’m proud of my players, what they did in Rwanda was very difficult but they made the job so…
“We worked yesterday (Sunday) and made a good training session and we need to go again to the pitch to prepare for the game tomorrow.”
He continued: “It (the match) will not be easy because Zimbabwe has a good team with good players and good coach. This coach (Michael Nees) has a good game project and we need to be focus in order to do the job tomorrow.”
Team captain William Troost-Ekong said the Super Eagles have quality players that can turn things round, adding the objective of Chelle is to ensure that they function as a unit in order to achieve the maximum results.
He said: “We have a lot of intelligent players that plays at the highest level . They are used to changing tactics with different coaches, so it’s just about adapting (with Chelle0 and I think the coach said it before, we have a lot of quality in our team .”
“He doesn’t need to explain much how we need to play football. Rather it’s just about getting everybody to play in harmony and understanding . I think we saw that in the last game but that is in the past , and we have to show that again in the next game (against Zimbabwe).”
