Connect with us

News

AFCON 2024: Nigeria Launches ‘Let’s Do It Again’ Support Campaign For Super Eagles 

The scene was at Mike Adenuga Centre (ALLIANCE FRANCAISE) in Ikoyi, Lagos where partners of Nigerian football Friday evening assembled to unveil a campaign to excite back for the Nigeria’s senior national, the Super Eagles ahead of their participation at the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Tagged ‘Let’s Do It Again’, fueled by SportsDotcom, the campaign, which has gotten the endowments of the Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Sports Development and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), is planned to allow the Super Eagles the affirmation that, although they will be the ones doing the fights on the field of play, the whole country of over 200m people is unequivocally behind them.

An elated Minister of Sports, Mr John Enoh seem not stow away his reverence for the campaign which he said has been the lost interface between Nigerians and the Super Eagles whenever they are on international duties.

He said: “The government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu strongly believes the power of football and other sports in enhancing national unity, hence the resolve that this is never being kidded with.

“Let’s Do It Again campaign is about stirring the bolster of Nigerians for the effective outing of our national team at the AFCON in Cote D’Ivoire in January next year.

“Nigeria encompasses an extraordinary football history and we must all ride on this to thrust the Super Eagles to wonderfulness at the AFCON. I need to urge corporate organisations to connect with the campaign and grant vital assets for its success.

“This is another opportunity for us to re-enact the accomplishment of 2013, the last time Nigeria lift the AFCON.

“We must come together to utilize this campaign to stir the awareness of Nigeria project within the minds of all Nigerians, and we must also utilize the campaign to envelope the entire Nigeria,” Senator Enoh said.

Former President of the NFF and FIFA Committee Member, Amaju Pinnick said that Nigerians must indiscriminately bolster the Super Eagles to have a fruitful outing in Cote D’Ivoire, including that “we ought to make that mental capacity to exceed expectations at the AFCON independent of the level of the restrictions.

To Pinnick, Nigerians ought to not quickly judge the Eagles with their performance against Lesotho in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Thursday.

“Though, the match against Lesotho was awful, we ought to not be down. We must qualify by all means and play at the World Cup in the US. It’ll be unimaginable for us not to be in that World Cup,” Pinnick said.

“For the AFCON 2024, I accept typically our year to win it since with this Let’s Win It Once more campaign, it appears that we are being delicate to what we are doing and by the beauty of God it’ll be our year,” he said.

President of the NFF, Ibrahim Gusau was full of assurance that Nigeria will bounce back after that poor showing against Lesotho, adding that the players and the football governing body know what it is at stake.

“I have no doubt in my mind that we are going for the Nations Cup once again after what we did 10 years ago.

“The Eagles need all encouragement we can patriotically give to them. At the NFF level, we are doing all possible things to ensure that Nigeria do it again.

“The draw against Lesotho was just a wakeup call, we will qualify for the World Cup,” said NFF boss.

Former Super Eagles captain and Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Sports, Daniel Amokachi assures Nigerians that the Eagles will do the nation proud at the AFCON.

“I am a huge fan of this generation of the Super Eagles players. They need our support and please let’s give it to them. Our commitment of support is what they need,” he said.

Joseph Yobo, former captain of the Eagles, under whose captainship the nation won the AFCON in 2013 when late Stephen Keshi was the chief coach, gave the full assurance that “we are due to win the cup again. it has been long, 10 years not a joke.”

Yobo noted it was a big privilege to represent his country through his glorious career in the senior national team. He emphatically said the Super Eagles have what it takes to win the Nations Cup again.

“Teamwork and intelligent give any team victory in any championship and if we can do it in 2013, these Eagles can do it in 2014,” Yobo said.

Incumbent skipper of the Super Eagles, Ahmed Musa, appealed to the Nigerian media to take it easy with the young boys in the team. 

According to him, unlike the older players, the young boys in the Super Eagles can’t take the pressure coming from the outside when things go wrong.

“I will appeal to Nigerians to keep believing in the team even anytime our performance doesn’t live up to expectation. We will not relent. We are going to the Nations Cup to do it again and for the World Cup qualifiers, I want to assure the country that we shall qualify,” Musa said.

Many dignitaries at the unveiling ceremony included former coach of the Eagles, Samson Siasia, ‘Headmaster’ Mutiu Adepoju, Sunday Mbah, journalists, celebrities, influencers, sponsors of the NFF and others.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News

King Ademola Lookman Brings Out His Love

King Ademola Lookman Brings Out His Love

Like his father opened up, Ademola Lookman is essentially a private person, who prefers to do his stuff without all the media blitz.

But on one of his biggest days, when he was crowned Africa’s best player, he could not but make the first public appearance with the woman in his life – Jayda Love.

‘Adebobo’ would even steal a moment on his big night to kiss his American beau.

The 27-year-old Super Eagles star is still single.

Rumours of this romance first surfaced in the summer when the couple appeared to have spent the holidays together.

This was after ‘Mola’ scored his unforgettable hat-trick for Atalanta to win the UEFA Europa League in super style.

Jayda, an Information Technology specialist is based in Dallas, Texas, graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2021 with a degree in public relations.

She follows Ademola Lookman and his foundation on social media.

She is also known to have visited him at his Italian base.

 

Continue Reading

News

FIFA Rankings: Nigeria’s Super Eagles End 2024 Ahead Of Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have ended 2024 ranked as Africa’s fifth-best team in FIFA’s latest global standings, released Thursday morning, Soccernet.ng reports.

Despite a challenging end to the year that saw the team drop eight places to 44th globally, the Super Eagles still managed to hold their own against eternal continental rivals like South Africa, Cameroon, and Ghana.

This year’s ranking represents a mixed bag for Nigeria. While the team retained its fifth spot in Africa, their decline in global rankings was driven by underwhelming performances in key fixtures.

Most notably, the Super Eagles struggled during the final rounds of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, securing just a solitary point in lackluster outings against the Benin Republic and Rwanda.

Nigeria were forced to a scored draw by the Cheetahs in Abidjan only for Samuel Chukwueze’s excellent strike to end up as consolation in a 2-1 home defeat to the Wasps.

Looking at year-to-year standings, at this time in 2023, Nigeria’s Super Eagles were ranked 42nd in the world but sixth on the continent.

Elsewhere, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana showed marked improvement, climbing th

Cameroon and Ghana, however, endured disappointing campaigns. Ghana’s Black Stars finished the year ranked 77th, a stark reminder of the ongoing struggles within the Black Stars setup.

At the continental summit, Morocco retained their status as the continent’s best, finishing as Africa’s top-ranked team in 14th place globally.

Senegal (17th), Egypt (33rd), and Algeria (37th) rounded out the top four, with Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Mali, Tunisia, and South Africa completing the top 10.

Globally, Argentina retained their position as FIFA’s top-ranked team, followed by France, Spain, England, and Brazil.

With 1,181 international matches played across the calendar year, the rankings reflected consistent dominance from the world’s elite teams.

As Nigeria enter 2025, all eyes will be on the Super Eagles to reignite their competitive spark, with the World Cup qualifiers returning in the first quarter of the year.

Continue Reading

News

Mbappé: Would Have Been ‘Fun’ To Play With Cristiano Ronaldo

Mbappé: Would Have Been 'Fun' To Play With Cristiano Ronaldo

Kylian Mbappé has said he wishes he could have played with Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo, the club’s all-time leading scorer.

The France international has been a teammate of other football icons but would have relished playing alongside Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner and Portugal captain.

“I’ve played with great players: Lionel Messi, Neymar, [Antoine] Griezmann, [Paul] Pogba, [Karim] Benzema…” Mbappé told BeINsports.

“It would have been fun to play with Cristiano Ronaldo — it’s going to be very difficult now — but I was lucky enough to play against him, a legend of the sport.”

Ronaldo, 39, left the Spanish giants in 2018 now plays for Saudi Pro-League side Al Nassr.

Mbappé helped Madrid win the Intercontinental Cup on Wednesday, his second title since joining the Spanish giants in the summer after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired.

Speaking to young people with disabilities as part of the BeUNITED program, Mbappe, 25, said he would have never left Paris Saint-Germain had it not been to join Madrid.

“I went to the biggest club in the world,” the 2018 World Cup winner said.

“I have always said that it was the only club I would have left PSG for. If I hadn’t been able to go to Madrid, I would have stayed at PSG all my life.”

Although Mbappé has been prolific for Madrid so far, he has faced criticism for his all-round performances with the team having suffered some high-profile defeats earlier in the season.

“Since I was 14, everyone told me I was going to be great,” Mbappé said.

“But when you’re big, sometimes you feel small…At first I was too hungry and it played tricks on me because I was impatient. But I have passion and this competitive side.

“My dream now is to win trophies with my team, not individual awards. What great title is left for me? The Champions League, but I’m in the best club in the world for that.”

Continue Reading

Trending