The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Sports, Hon. Godfrey Gaiya, said on Saturday that the Super Eagles should not play under pressure against South Africa on Sunday.
Gaiya told the News Agency of Nigeria in a telephone interview that the technical crew and football stakeholders should avoid putting pressure on the team to win the match.
He said he was optimistic of a Super Eagles victory against Bafana Bafana because of the team’s sudden improvement in the second group game against Mozambique.
He said: ”I was elated when the home-based Eagles defeated Mozambique 4-2 and you can see that their performance in that match was an improvement from the first outing against the Malians.
”I hope they will be improving as the championship progresses.
“The more matches the team plays, the better the outcome will be.
”So, I see a better team on Sunday against South Africa because the players have rested enough and must have blended well by now.”
Gaiya noted that Mali defeated the Eagles in the first group match because the team was yet to find its rhythm in the championship.
The lawmaker also pointed out that late preparation and the departure of key home-based players to foreign clubs contributed to the defeat by Mali.
Gaiya, however, said that pressure was not on the team to win the championship, considering the level of preparation it had.
He said: “The most important thing is that we are participating and don’t forget that it is the team’s first time and this is the third edition.
“We are not saying the team must bring the trophy but as Nigerians we will want it to be so because our senior national team is the best in Africa.
“You know we didn’t start preparations early and we lost some members of the team to foreign clubs because they were looking for greener pastures and you can’t stop them.
“So, the coach is still battling with the challenges of blending the new players with the ones left in the team.”
Gaiya said the team would not disgrace the country in spite of the challenges it encountered preparing for the championship.
On his part, Salihu Abubakar, the Chief Operating Officer of the League Management Company, said the team was no more tensed as noticed in the match against Mali.
Abubakar said Nigerian football teams had the ability to excel in tournaments, especially when they did not do well in the opening games.
He believed that the game against South Africa would be much easier than the match against Mozambique, as the team improved with every game.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Union in South Africa said on Saturday that it would mobilise support for the Super Eagles in their match against South Africa in the ongoing CHAN tournament.
The President of the Union, Ikechukwu Anyaene, told the NAN in Johannesburg that the members had also been mobilised to give maximum support to the Eagles in Sunday’s final Group A match with Bafana Bafana.
He said: “It’s a crucial and tough match and we are not taking chances in providing support for the Eagles.
“The match has already been tagged final before the final.
“We have mobilised Nigerians so that the Eagles will not lack support in the stadium.
“We are hopeful that the Eagles will win the match and go ahead to win the tournament.”
Anyaene said Nigerian pastors based in South Africa had also been mobilised to pray for the success of the Eagles in the match.
“Apart from mobilising support, we are also organising prayers for the team and we are optimistic the Eagles will win,” he said.
The president urged the handlers of the Eagles to work on the defence so that they do not concede cheap goals.
Anyaene said: “We expect that the handlers of the team and management of the team will work on their defence.
“They have to be more disciplined in the defence because they have good strikers and we believe that if necessary cautions are taken, Nigeria will beat South Africa.”
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