SUPER Eagles captain Ahmed Musa is still reeling from the disappointment of their early exit from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, but he expects it to fuel the team to greater heights.
The Nigeria side were favourites to reach the quarter-finals in Cameroon after breezing through the group stage with three wins out of three, but they were knocked out by Tunisia in the round of 16.
Musa says he and his colleagues will not let the defeat weigh them down as they prepare for the Qatar 2022 World Cup playoffs against Ghana in March.
“You know it is still a shock but I can assure you that things like these make a team stronger,” the Fatih Karagumuruk forward told thenff.com.
“We did our best in the circumstances. When you lose at a tournament, it hurts really bad. However, we don’t have time to keep reflecting over what went wrong.
“We have very important challenges in front of us, and all we can do is stay stronger and have firm belief in ourselves that we can do it. The focus is now on the World Cup playoffs.”
The Super Eagles were hosted to a breakfast reception in Abuja by sports minister Sunday Dare on Tuesday, two days after their 1-0 defeat to Tunisia ended their AFCON journey.
Dare said the federal government was proud of the squad and their performance, and backed the team to improve, as he praised the technical crew led by Augustine Eguavoen.
“The overall performance of the team during this tournament shows we have regained our better footing and are heading in the proper direction. Our football, once again was fluid, purposeful and beautiful to watch. We have a good team and Nigeria will help them to get better,” the minister said.
The Super Eagles will be seeking to qualify for their fourth straight World Cup and seventh overall, having missed only the 2006 edition since their debut in 1994.
They face familiar foes Ghana in the final round of the qualifying campaign, whom they defeated on the way to reaching the 2002 edition.
