Nations Cup miss, not good for Nigeria – Adesina

Former international, Ademola Adesina, says it is bad omen for Nigeria’s Super Eagles to miss out of the African Cup of Nations tournament  billed to start next month in Gabon.
The former Nigeria midfielder says the organisers will also not be excited that Nigeria, which parades the best team at the moment, will not be on parade when other 16 teams file out from January 14 for the Africa’s biggest fiesta.
“Any tournament without Nigeria is a minus. Nigeria needs that event to prepare for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Although, we have the team but we need to be playing more matches to remain formidable. We need to keep the players busy and strong,” says Adesina.
The 2017 Nations Cup is expected to kick off with teams like Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Congo, RD Congo, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
According to Adesina, Nigeria is still a force  in African football, stressing that some of these Nations Cup teams would be dreaming of playing Super Eagles in the competition, but unfortunately Nigeria did not qualify.
The host team, Gabon will face Guinea-Bissau in the opening duel of the event, while Burkina Faso try Cameroon for size in the second game on January 14.
“We have everything going for Nigeria team. The new team is made up young and experienced players and we are getting the best results in the matches played so far. We hope the momentum would be  maintained. The Franco German coach, Gernot Rohr, is expected to inject fresh ideas and strategies to get the best of the players in the remaining qualifiers,” Adesina added.