Super Eagles coach, Eric Chelle has revealed that his focus is on the World Cup qualifiers encounters against Rwanda, and Zimbabwe in March and not the African Nations Cup.
On Monday, rhe Super Eagles were drawn alongside Tunisia, Tanzania, and Uganda in the Group C of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, which is slated for December.
Chelle is preparing for his first match in charge of the Super Eagles against Rwanda on March 17, and Zimbabwe seven days later in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Nigeria currently occupy the fifth position in Group C with three points from four games, and still searching for their first win of the series.
The Malian coach is focused on winning both matches in other to boost the team’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup to be co-hosted by USA, Canada, and Mexico.
He said: There are no small teams in AFCON; you need to be focused.
“As I’ve said before, my focus is on my players and March. We need to concentrate on the World Cup qualifiers first, and after that, in October, we can start thinking about AFCON. For now, we need to win two games in March.
“This is a draw, there are four teams and anyone in the AFCON can win the tournament but now I need to watch and work with my players on the two games in March against Rwanda and Zimbabwe.”
The Super Eagles are four points behind leaders Rwanda, with six games left to play in the qualifying series.
The first two matches is set to take place in March, while the remaining four matches will take place in September, and October.
Chelle’s Super Eagles need to secure a win to kickstart their hopes of qualifying for the mundial. It would be recalled that Nigeria failed to qualify for the last edition in 2022 after losing out to Ghana via the away goal rule in the play off.
The first leg ended 0-0 in Kumasi, the Black Stars booked their place in the competition with a 1-1 draw at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja in the return leg.
The Super Eagles will then turn their attention to the Nations Cup in December, where they will take on Tanzania on December 23 before taking on Tunisia four days later, they will end their first round sojourn with a clash against Uganda on December 30.
