Nigeria’s National Men’s Football Team head coach Eric Chelle is backing his players to excel despite missing key performers for the 2025 AFCON.
The Super Eagles commence their 2025 AFCON journey on Tuesday, December 23 with a game against Tanzania at 17:30 GMT.
The West African nation finished in second place at the last AFCON but head into this year’s tournament without experienced centre back William Troost-Ekong who retired from the national team earlier this month.
Chelle is without Nottingham Forest full back Ola Aina and 20 year old centre back Benjamin Fredrick, who is largely viewed as Troost-Ekong’s heir, through injuries but the former Mali coach isn’t perturbed by the absences.
“I am not worried. I am trusting my guys. Of course I prefer that all these other guys are here, but now I am with my guys here and I trust in them so much. We have a big defence, and we work a lot on that.”
“When you want to defend, this is not a question of only the defenders but a question about all the players on the pitch. Definitely, we are ready to play this game” he said according to ESPN.
