Okocha: Eagles have enough potential to beat Ivory Coast

Former Super Eagles captain, Austin JayJay Okocha says the team has the talents to win against Ivory Coast when both teams meet on Thursday in their second group game at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations .

Nigeria forced Equatorial Guinea to a 1-1 draw in their opening group game while host, Ivory defeated Guinea-Bissau 2-0. The result means the Super Eagles will be under pressure not to lose on Thursday.

Okocha is however confident the Super Eagles can get back to winning ways against the Ivorians albeit he acknowledged in an interview with the Confederation of African Football, CAF, that the match will be a very difficult one.

‘Every match is difficult but when you play the host country, it is even more difficult. But, of course the beauty of football is that if you want to be champions, you have to win against the best.

‘And as we know, in football, every match is difficult. If you are well prepared, you have a chance of winning your match.

‘But, we Nigerians, we know that it will be a difficult match but also, we believe that we have enough potential to be able to win this match,’ Okocha said in the interview.

Okocha is not one of those who believed the Super Eagles were ordinary against Equatorial Guinea.

‘I think we didn’t really play bad like many people say. There were a lot of positive things that were seen in the match. The only problem is that we didn’t take our opportunities.

‘We created a lot of chances, which is a positive aspect for me. That’s the sign of a good team. It looks like two points lost because we were favorites, but we know how difficult it is to win a match.

‘This is also a good thing because they now know that they are not perfect and that they need to improve certain things.’