Daniel Ogunmodede opens up on importance of CHAN 2025 qualification

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

The stand-in coach of Nigeria’s national Team B, Daniel Ogunmodede, says he knows what it means for the team to qualify for the 2025 Championship of African Nations (CHAN).

Nigeria and Ghana played a scoreless draw in the first leg played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.

Ghana’s Black Galaxies dominated the first period with a string of opportunities, but they found the Super Eagles’ rearguard marshaled by Captain Nduka Junior impenetrable.

Since 2018 when Nigeria reached the final of the tournament but lost to Morocco, it has been a herculean task qualifying for the competition, a scenario Ogunmodede intends to change the narratives.

“We know what it means for your home-based players as well as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and National Sports Commission (NSC),” Ogunmodede said after the first leg in Accra, Ghana.

“It’s not only that players that qualification for the next CHAN is important to. It is also important for me as a coach. I am an indigenous coach.

“We are trying to be one step ahead of the past. Qualifying for the tournament will add more value to the players, league, and the country.”

The scoreless affair is the best result Nigeria has earned against Ghana away in any qualifying contest for the African Nations Championship, with the Eagles losing 2-3 to their hosts in 2008 and then getting spanked by two goals in 2022.

Nigeria is one of the top football teams in Africa and recently saw Ademola Lookman emerge as the continent’s best player; Ogunmodede is riding on that to see the Super Eagles qualify for the CHAN for the first time in six years.

“Considering the fact that the current African Footballer of the Year winner is from Nigeria. That is why we need to be champions,” He added.

“We want to make a mark to make our football better and the Federation for working towards the betterment of our football.” He concluded.

The second leg of the fixture is set for the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Saturday, with the winner on aggregate to represent WAFU B at the biennial championship reserved exclusively for professional footballers plying their trade in their country’s domestic leagues.

The eighth installment of the African Nations Championship will be hosted by Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, 1st – 28th February 2025.