Dessers, Tijani ‘proud’ to play for Super Eagles

DESPITE the team’s less-than-stellar performances in their two friendlies in Austria, some of the Super Eagles players are happy to have got the chance to be involved, Naija Times reports.

The team lost 1-0 to Algeria last Friday and drew 1-1 with Tunisia on Tuesday.

However, there were first Nigeria caps for several players, including Cyril Dessers, Kevin Akpoguma, Frank Onyeka and Samson Tijani.

Dessers, the Belgium-born striker who came on as a substitute against Tunisia, took to social media to express his feelings about finally wearing Nigeria’s colours.

“Proud and honoured to represent a big football nation like Nigeria,” the Genk striker tweeted, while also joining his voice to the fight against police brutality.

“Proud to be a Super Eagle. #SoarSuperEagles #EndSARS.”

Tijani, the Austria-based midfielder who captained the Golden Eaglets to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2019 and made his Super Eagles debut as a late substitute against Algeria, was happy to have made the step-up to the senior national team.

“Always good representing Nigeria,” he tweeted.
Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr himself had said one of the positives from the two games was the emergence of new players who might have earned spots in the squad for the next set of matches.

The Super Eagles will play Sierra Leone twice in November for a spot at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations.