2 weeks ago
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Captain WilliamTroost-Ekong said connected Wednesday greeting that the Super Eagles volition springiness the CAF Play-Off Tournament for the 2026 FIFA World Cup successful Morocco adjacent period their precise champion shot, arsenic the radical continues to softly delight successful the 4-0 triumph implicit Bénin Republic successful Uyo connected Tuesday that sent Nigeria to the play-off tournament, which precedes the intercontinental play-offs scheduled for Mexico successful March adjacent year.
“We are rather blessed to person that opportunity. It is simply a agelong way but it is simply a way afterall. We would person loved to get the automatic summons but it didn’t hap and we instrumentality what we have. For us, we volition stay beardown and pugnacious and acceptable to face each situation connected our mode arsenic we hunt for the summons to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“It was a fantastic squad effort connected Tuesday evening. Everyone contributed; each idiosyncratic played their part. If the different lucifer had gone successful favour, we would beryllium with the automatic summons now. But that’s life. You instrumentality what you get and tally with it, and marque the champion of it.”
Nigeria got their champion effect of the run connected an inspired nighttime successful the Akwa Ibom State capital, with Victor Osimhen netting a hat-trick and midfielder Frank Onyeka, who came successful arsenic a substitute, rifling successful with the timepiece connected 90 minutes to nonstop the three-time African champions to the CAF Play-off Tournament.
With the effect they earned, the Super Eagles should person picked up the automatic summons from Group C, but erstwhile more, Rwanda’s Amavubi failed to clasp things choky for Nigeria astatine the important hour, crumbling similar a battalion of cards to South Africa’s Bafana Bafana successful Nelspruit. It was November 2005 each implicit again, erstwhile each the Amavubi needed to bash was clasp Angola to a gully connected the last matchday astatine location successful Kigali, but they conceded a precocious extremity by Fabrice Akwa to render Nigeria’s five-goal rout of Zimbabwe successful Abuja inconsequential, alternatively sending Angola to their archetypal FIFA World Cup finals.
In the CAF Play-offs, Nigeria volition instrumentality connected Gabon’s Palancas Negras successful a ‘first semi-final’ connected Thursday, 13th November, with Cameroon taking connected the Democratic Republic of Congo successful the ‘second semi-final’ connected Friday, 14th November. The 2 winners clash connected Sunday, 16th November successful the ‘final’, with the victor to proceed to the Intercontinental Play-offs scheduled for the Mexican cities of Guadalajara and Monterrey successful March adjacent year.
At the International Play-off Tournament, six teams volition conflict for 2 tickets. The teams are Africa’s winner, Bolivia, New Caledonia, victor of Asian play-off betwixt Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, and 2 of Jamaica, Costa Rica and Panama.
The station Ekong: We’re blessed to beryllium successful the play-offs and we’ll springiness it our champion shot appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.
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