CHAN: Tunisia’ll be tough for Eagles, says Adepoju

Mutiu Adepoju

With Nigeria set to meet Tunisia, Niger Republic and Guinea at the group stage of the 2016 Championship of African Nations in Rwanda, former Super Eagles midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju, believes the Tunisia, will pose the toughest threat for the Eagles.

The Eagles beat Burkina Faso 2-0 on aggregate to qualify for the tournament, which will come up in Rwanda from January 16 to February 7. They will play in Group C the Stade Regional de Nyamirambo. The Tunisians were winners of the tournament in 2011.

Adepoju, who spoke with our correspondent, said the team should work on their attack to stand a chance of doing well in Rwanda.

“The group is good for the Eagles,” he said.

“But the Tunisians will be the toughest of the opponents for Nigeria. The other teams too would give them a hard time but it will not be as much as that of the Tunisians. The group is one that any of the four teams can qualify but the Eagles need a lot of hard work to do well in the group stages and beyond.

“They need to work on their attack and other weak areas before the competition begins next year. The competition is getting closer but there is enough time yet to make the attack more potent for the team to challenge for the title.”

The former Racing Santander player believes the current misfortunes of the country’s clubs on the continent will not stop the Eagles from playing well against the Tunisians.

He said, “The performances of the clubs in the continental competitions cannot be used to grade what will happen to the Eagles. The national team is made up of different players who are considered good enough to do Nigeria proud. The Tunisians may have a good league but it does not translate to them having the best national team.

“The team is not made up of players from one club alone, so their chances at the CHAN cannot be decided by the club’s performances but rather it would be decided by the forms of the players from their clubs to the national team.”

The Eagles will be playing at the CHAN for a second consecutive time after placing third at the last edition in South Africa.