TheCable

Sunday Oliseh, the Super Eagles coach, says Tunisia, the opponent in tomorrow’s second Group C game, are the clear favourites to win the tournament.

Oliseh praised the Tunisian league to high heavens and declared that based on statistics and quality, the Tunisian league is the best in Africa and that the Super Eagles are just “paper” favourites.

But he assured Nigerians that his team would go into every game to fight for victory, knowing that Nigerians always expect their teams to excel.

“In the first place, this is a tournament that is based mainly on the local leagues, and we all know the millions put into the Tunisian league,” he said.

“It’s a very young team that we are trying to build upon. It’s no joke to say Tunisia is the favourite for this tournament. They are the ones who have the big league and all that.

“My players are just coming up. Most of them you din’t even know they existed before. And as regard what the nation expects back home, well, my nation is always waiting for us to perform, which is normal but I also feel that we’ve been very clear from the outset that we are taking it game by game. We intend to just play our game tomorrow and hopefully by God’s come out successful.

“We are no way inferior to the Tunisian side. What I am stressing out here is that we have to face what it is, because everyone is trying to make it look like it is Nigeria that has the big League, has the big money but that is not the case. So, I am just stressing it out.

“I am not going to allow anybody put pressure on my players. The truth has to be put out there. Our league is a league that as a nation, we are trying to renovate. We have brought the players from our league here.”

Oliseh happily announced the return of his vice captain, Austin Oboroakpor who missed the opening game.

“Austin Oboroakpor is back. So, we are have 23 players to choose from,” he said. “As regard the injury problems, we don’t really have any. We don’t have any injury worries to be scared about. We are happy to have everybody back.

“My team is just a paper favourite but that’s not the case, because if you look at the FIFA ranking, the Tunisians are up there above us. And if you look at the investment put into their league, which has the players we are allowed to use here, they are in front. My players are a very young team, I think the average age is about 21.

“And for those reasons, we are modestly taking it game by game. All we want to do us represent our country well. If representing our country well means God giving us the title, then that will be great. If it doesn’t, I don’t want to burden my players or myself for that. We are just here to build a formidable team for our country. But we are not inferior to any team.”