Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi has assured Nigerians that the team will grab a ticket to the 2017 African Cup of Nations.
The Chelsea midfielder admits its a tough call but the team will fight harder when they tackle the Pharaohs of Egypt in Alexandria on Tuesday.
“It’s a massive battle that we are going for, and there should be no illusion about it. We have to face reality, and everyone has to give more than 100 per cent because we just have to qualify for the Cup of Nations,” said Obi.
He further insisted there was no reason to panic following Friday’s draw, and pointed to the fact that there are still three more matches left in the campaign.
“We have to go to Alexandria and fight with everything we have. There are still matches to play and we have confidence that we will earn the ticket. We also call on Nigerians to believe in the team and continue to support us.”
The Eagles lost the lead in the dying minutes of the first leg which ended 1-1 at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna.
The Nigerian Football Federation also confirmed on its official website that the players and officials will now travel to Alexandria on Monday aboard a chartered flight, as against an earlier arrangement to fly the delegation aboard Egypt Air. The team will fly direct to Alexandria and have the official training at the match venue on Monday evening, before Tuesday’s match.
