National Teams
‘There are no more minnows’ – Mutiu Adepoju warns Nigeria ahead of Afcon 2023
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
Former Nigeria international, Mutiu Adepoju has called for Nigeria’s senior men’s national team to be extra prepared as he believes only quality preparation can guarantee the country success on the continent.
The Super Eagles will make their 20th appearance at the continent’s showpiece in Cote d’Ivoire next month and will be aiming to claim their four African crown, 10 years after the last at South Africa 2023.
And Adepoju feels the Super Eagles must take the tag of one of the best in Africa and can go all the way to the tournament despite recent poor results at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
“For me, there are no minnows. Although talking about positions in Africa and all that, we might be thinking that Lesotho and Zimbabwe are minnows,” Adepoju told Brila FM.
“There are no minnows nowadays. Everybody is working hard to make sure they get to the highest level and qualify for the World Cup.
“We [Super Eagles] are the ones that are supposed to work harder to make sure that the so-called minnows do not come and meet us.
“As we are working. Others are working behind as well. We just have to work harder to make sure that we are ahead.” He concluded.
Nigeria will meet host, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, and Guinea Bissau in Group A as the AFCON 2023 gets underway on January 13, 2024.
