Russia 2018: Lions can’t stop Eagles –Mustapha

Despite the defeat of the Super Eagles by South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in the first fixtures of the AFCON 2019 qualifier in Uyo, former NFF Electoral Committee chairman Abdulakeem Mustapha (SAN), is optimistic that the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon cannot stop the Super Eagles from qualifying for the Fifa World Cup in Russia.

The legal luminary believes that the two-legged affair may be between the traditional foes, the Lions would not stop the Eagles from getting the slot for Russia 2018.

He said the loss to South Africa was both a blessing in disguise and a wake up call for Nigeria to do the right things.

Mustapha noted that he has taken time to watch the Indomitable Lions competitively in all their matches, particularly the just concluded Confederation Cup, and observed that the Super Eagles remain unstoppable in the group.

“Yes, I have watched Cameroon; I have watched all their matches because of the obvious reasons. And I feel that Cameroon are better prepared. They are playing very competitive matches and to that extent, the understanding among the players would be better, and they need that kind of Grade A matches to prepare them for the competition we are talking about.

“But having said that, I believe that we have a good team, a good coach and the administration that will take us there, we still need to put things right,” he said.

He argued that Nigeria has quality players that can do the work noting that it will be better for everybody to work together now that we know where we are, where it will take us to, and to where we ought to be.

According to him, “That we lost to South Africa may be a blessing in disguise and a wake up call because before then there’s this complacency among all of us. It was like we have qualified and the remaining matches are for formality sake. So, to the extent that it is happening at the early stages of the competition is a wakeup call for everybody to work together. We know where are now and we know what will take us to where we want to be. I think we can make it, if we do the right things”.

The right things according to the passionate sports administrator is to put a halt to ongoing experimentation and fielding of untested players in crucial matches while ignoring experienced ones simply because of the leagues they currently ply their trades.