Finidi assures victory as Eagles battle Cheetahs in Abidjan

Super Eagles’ Coach, Finidi George, was full of enthusiasm, yesterday, as his team arrived in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, for today’s crucial 2026 World Cup qualifier against the Cheetahs of Benin Republic.

Nigeria will meet Benin Republic on matchday four of the African qualifying series for the 2026 World Cup at the Houphoet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan, where the Cheetahs are playing their World Cup qualifiers because they don’t have a suitable arena for matches of that magnitude.

The Super Eagles’ delegation, led by Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Ibrahim Gusau, included 23 players, technical and administrative officials, a few members of the NFF Executive Committee and management, and a couple of media representatives. They flew aboard a chartered ValueJet aircraft from the Obong Victor Attah Airport in Uyo and landed at the Aeroport Felix Houphouet-Boigny at noon yesterday.

Lying in a strange fifth place in the six-team Group C after three rounds of matches, the Super Eagles know only a win against the Cheetahs this evening will keep them seriously in the hunt for a place at the World Cup finals to be jointly hosted by Canada, USA and Mexico in two years’ time.

Finidi dismissed the notion that former Super Eagles Manager, Gernot Rohr, who now manages Benin Republic, knows what to do to cage the Eagles. Rohr spent over five years as the head coach of Super Eagles before his dismissal in December 2021.

“That doesn’t change anything. Whether he knows the players or doesn’t know the players, we are talking about Benin Republic… most of the players that he had in Nigeria are still around, that means he should be fearful,” Finidi said.

Finidi went on to highlight the quality of the Super Eagles squad, implying that Rohr’s intimate understanding of the players should be a source of worry for the Benin Republic.

“If he knows the players so well and he has coached them, he should know they are a bunch of good players that we have in the national team.” Finidi also emphasised his desire to see an attacking brand of football from his team, suggesting that they will take the game to Benin Republic rather than adopting a cautious approach.

“I’ve always said it, I want to see attractive football, and you must risk if you want to win. You can’t just sit back and feel the goals will come; you have to enforce it, which we did in the second half, but unfortunately, it didn’t happen,” he said.

On Nigeria’s poor standing in Group C of the qualifying series, he said: “We’re very much aware of why we are here and what we have to do. The players want to go to the World Cup and they have resolved to give their all in every game going forward. We had our opportunities against South Africa on Friday and should have won, but that is gone and we face another challenge now.

We have resolved not to look too far ahead in this race. The essence is to take it one match at a time. Benin Republic is in our front now, and we must deal with that squarely.”

With only three points from their first three matches of the campaign, and going up against the Cheetahs who boast four points, the Eagles know they must fire on all cylinders and recreate the happy moments of the AFCON at the Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny – where they won all three matches played there during the Africa Cup of Nations finals earlier in the year.

Gabonese official Pierre Ghislain Atcho will be the referee for today’s encounter that commences at 5.00 p.m. Ethiopian officials Temesgin Samuel Atango and Tigle Gizlaw Belachew will serve as assistant referees 1 and 2, while Cameroonian Antoine Max Effa Essouma will be fourth official.

Djamel Haimoudi from Algeria will be the referee assessor, with Burkinabe David Yameogo as commissioner and Ivorian Atte Claude Elloh as security officer.