With few days to the commencement of the 2024 African Cup of Nations (AFCON 2024) in Cote d’ Ivoire, the president of host country’s football federation, Yacine Idriss Diallo, has snubbed the Super Eagles of Nigeria as one of the favourites for the coveted trophy.
Complete Sports reports an interview during which Diallo named Morocco, Senegal and Egypt as the three countries that will likely put up a challenge for the trophy.
He declined to rate his country’s team, The Elephants as one of the favourite. “I trust our team (Cote d’ Ivoire) but we know that we are not favourite. We are building a new team. If you see our team now, I think 30% are very young, it’s their first competition. But we will try to bring a very good squad to be ready.” He expressed optimism about his team’s readiness,” So we will try to do our best to go as far as possible and try to win the trophy. This is why we are here.”
The biennial tournament kicks off on January 13th, 2024. Nigeria is in group A alongside host Cote d’ Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.
The Super Eagles will trade tackles with The Elephants in their second group game on January 18th in Abidjan, an encounter which promises to be a thrilling one, rekindling the football rivalry between the two nations.
