Plenty Goals Don’t Win A Tournament – Coach Yusuf

Ahead of the final game of 2018 CHAN tournament in Morocco on Sunday,  FRANCIS ACHI, Senior Correspondent of PM EXPRESS covering the tournament in the North African country spoke with  Salisu Yusuf, the Chief coach of the Super Eagles on what football loving Nigerians should expect  amidst the different problems the team is going through in the tournament. 

Against all odds, the Super Eagles are in the final of CHAN tournament for the first time and the team will be playing Morocco in the final what should Nigerians be expecting against Morocco this Sunday? 

We thank God for getting to the final of CHAN tournament . Super Eagles played five games , won four , drew one. The team scored seven goals and conceded two. I think it is a very good performance. The final game against Morocco  is going to be difficult, no doubt about that . Morocco is the host team and they will have the crowd behind them, but I believe that football is 11 against 11 on the field of play. If we do the right thing against Morocco,  defend well and create chances that can be converted into goals , Eagles can defeat Morocco.

You know  that the Super Eagles have been scoring goals in the tournament , it is only in the game against Rwanda that the team did not score. So, if we create chances and convert the chances into goals, then victory can be ours on Sunday . We are determined to make Nigeria proud and the cup is our target.

The Atlas Lions of Morocco is a very high scoring side and one of their attackers had already scored eight goals so far in the tournament . How will the Eagles’ defence cope with this rampaging attack of Morocco? 

We know that they are high scoring side. The highest scoring side in the tournament , but as I said earlier , if we do the right thing by defending well, creating chances and converting the chances created into goals , we will definitely win against Morocco. Moreover, it is not that Morocco scored in every game. They drew against Sudan in a scoreless affair .  I believe that the Super Eagles can beat the Atlas Lions of Morocco tomorrow.

Ikechukwu Ezenwa will be missing in the final game due to injury and Dele Ajiboye is likely to be in goal against Morocco. How do you feel with the absence of Ezenwa? 

It is very sad. We know that injury is part of the game. Injury can happen to anybody on the field . Some players even get injured before stepping into the field. Ezenwa is the captain of the team. He coordinates the team very well on the field. He is a very dependable player in the team , the truth is that, he is out. He needs three weeks to get back to the field, and  despite this reality , I am glad that we have capable replacements in Dele Ajiboye and Theophilus Afelokhai. Ajiboye was very fantastic when he came in against Sudan. He is a very good goalkeeper and the team will play for Ezenwa on Sunday.

Ifeanyi Ifeanyi will also miss the game through the red card he got against Sudan . How will the team cope in his absence? 

We are going to see the fitness level of Emeka Atuloma in the last training. Ifeanyi Ifeanyi is another important player in the team that we will be missing in the final . He will not play . If Emeka is very fit again, he will play. You know Emeka too also suffered Injury , but he is getting better , he has been training with the team and we hope that he will be very fit to play against Morocco, but if the defensive midfielder is not at his physical best condition for the game , then we can play a defender in that position. There was a game we had to bring a defender the role of a defensive midfielder . We have two players in each position , but in this position has a player with a red card and another with an injury.

Just like in the attack where we have one player injured and out of the tournament and the other attacker has not played at all in the tournament. Sunday Faleye is out injured since the game against Angola and Peter Eneji has not featured in any game due to injury . How will the attack look like against Morocco? 

Yes we have Peter Eneji , a very good player and we took him to this tournament because of his qualities. He can score goals and he can also assist to score and when he was injured in the last friendly game we played against a football academy in Abuja , we felt that we could still bring him to the tournament and get well as the team progresses in the tournament and the good thing is that Eneji has started training with the team and he is getting back to full fitness . I believe he can play in the final tomorrow.

Anthony Okpotu is the hottest striker in the Nigeria League ,the striker has scored two goals in this tournament , but it appears he is not having a good tournament . What is the problem of Okpotu in this tournament? 

Anthony Okpotu has scored two goals , but missed some chances too . If you observe very well, Okpotu is a very good striker , even in the league he started scoring goals late in the season, I don’t know if that  is how his own destiny works , but I insist that he is a good striker, he works hard for the team, he troubles the opposition defence and he has scored two important goals for Nigeria and these goals kept the team in the tournament . I don’t have any problem with the attack . We scored seven goals and conceded just two  and I think it is a good statistics for the team. Angola only scored a goal before getting to quarter final. I think the strikers have done well considering the number of matches we have played and the situation we find ourselves and moreover you don’t need plenty goals to win a tournament.

So Anthony Okpotu will still lead the attack against Morocco tomorrow.

Okpotu is ready, Gabriel Okechukwu has not disappointed with his two goals and Mustapha Ibrahim is another reliable striker we have and they are all in good shape and we will know what will happen based on the last training before the final  game, but I am very happy with the attackers in the team and they have not disappointed me in anyway.