Godfrey Oboabona: From Now, It Is A Cup Final Approach

Sunshine Stars skipper Godfrey Oboabona impressed in his Nations Cup debut against Burkina Faso on Monday. The Eagles were favorites to secure all three points, but with the last kick of the game, Alain Traore grabbed an unlikely equalizer for the Stallions.

''The match is in the past now and we know we could and should have done better but there are still two matches to play and no side in our group has won maximum points at this stage,'' says Oboabona to afcon2013online.com.

Group C of the tournament enters its second round of games on Friday with two of the favorites to progress Nigeria and defending champions Zambia locking horns in Nelspruit. Despite the draw with Burkina Faso, Nigeria's fate is in her own hands.

''We had done well with ten men up until they (Burkina Faso) equalised and there was little time to do anything about it. Against Zambia it will even be tougher because they are the current champions and there are no easy games here at the finals.

''From an initial three matches we are down to two to seek qualification to the next round. Of course it can be done and from here forth it’s a cup final approach ,'' Oboabona said.

It has been an eventful last 12 months for Godfrey Oboabona. He was an important member of the Sunshine Stars squad which qualified for the semi -finals of the CAF Champions League. In addition, he was selected as one of six domestic players in Nigeria's African Cup of Nations roster.

''It has been a good 12 months in football for me and l am grateful to God for all that has happened so far. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that we have locally based Nigerian players in the team, of course we have won AFCON with such players before and l don’t see any reason why we cannot repeat this. We will continue to work hard and believe in our ability. We are ready for Zambia and have been working on eliminating our blunders from the first game,'' Oboabona concluded.