Osayi-Samuel reveals three things Super Eagles must do to have a very good chance of beating CIV

Bright Osayi-Samuel has identified three things Super Eagles must do to have a very good chance of beating Ivory Coast in the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, stating that they must focus on themselves, look at what they can do and understand how they can hurt the opponents,

The Super Eagles and Elephants come up against each other again on Sunday after Nigeria were victorious in the group stage, beating the hosts 1-0 courtesy of William Troost-Ekong's match-winning strike in the second half. 

That result may not have an impact on the final as Ivory Coast have gotten better and better as the tournament progressed after an unconvincing performance in the group stage.

The Super Eagles have played as a unit at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and were on the brink of keeping five clean sheets on the bounce until South Africa midfielder Teboho Mokoena scored from the spot in the 90th minute of Wednesday's semifinal clash. 

"If you look around the group everyone's confident, everyone's looking forward to the game, me myself," Osayi-Samuel said to Super Eagles media officer Babafemi Raji.

"They have got good players but like I said if we focus on ourselves, look at what we can do and how we can hurt them, then I think we have a very good chance of winning the game."
 

Osayi-Samuel' is behind Ola Aina and Zaidu Sanusi in manager Jose Peseiro's pecking order of wing-backs and the win against South Africa was his first-ever start in the knockout rounds of the Africa Cup of Nations. 

"It's my first start in the knockout rounds so it's a great feeling for me. In general we've played well in this AFCON so it's positive in terms of the defence. Collectively we had many chances again. 

"We know we will get chances every game with the quality that we have, it's now about converting these chances. Overall the game was good and it's a learning curve now to see what we can do better our next game.

"We know that comes with pressure but like I said if you look at our group we have players with vast experience in this situation that we are in," he concluded. 
 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit: safa.net

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