The President of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau MON, has assured Nigerians that the football-governing body is committed to adequately preparing the country’s national teams to bring pride and glory to the nation in 2024.
Speaking on Monday, Gusau acknowledged the Super Eagles’ precarious position in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The three-time African champions currently sit fifth in their group with just three points from four matches.
To secure a spot at the global tournament, the team must win all six of their remaining games when qualifiers resume in March.
“The era of Nigerian teams arriving at major championships just to participate is gone.
Our objective now is to ensure that our teams can strongly contend for honours anywhere, and that can only be done by preparing the teams well ahead of qualifiers and competitions.”
The Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup after losing their ticket to Ghana remains a sore point for fans, and missing back-to-back World Cups would be devastating.
Gusau expressed confidence in the team’s ability to turn things around, citing their strong showing at the recent AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire, where they reached the final.
“Our commitment is to see how we can cobble back that Super Eagles squad that did the nation proud at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, coming within 23 minutes of lifting the trophy.
If we can find a way to do that, we can be sure that the target of winning the six remaining matches in the qualifiers to gain automatic qualification to the World Cup is achievable,” he said.
The NFF President also emphasized the importance of securing the World Cup ticket to set the stage for a strong performance at the upcoming AFCON in Morocco later in the year.
“Getting that FIFA World Cup ticket will set the momentum for a sterling outing at the AFCON in Morocco later in the year.”
With Gusau’s renewed commitment, football fans across Nigeria will be hoping the Super Eagles can rise to the occasion and deliver results that restore the country’s standing on the global stage.
