Rohr assures Nigerian fans that the Eagles will not take anyone for granted despite supposed easy group

SUPER Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has assured Nigerian football fans that his team will not be complacent during the forthcoming African Cup of Nations in Egypt taking place this summer despite being drawn in what looks like an easy group on paper.

Yesterday evening, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) held the draw for the Nations Cup with Nigeria drawn in Group B alongside Guinea, Madagascar and Burundi. Nigeria is among the favourites to win the African Nations Cup taking place 21 June and July 19 alongside the likes of Senegal, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco and with a supposed easy group, most pundits expect the Eagles to sail through qualification.

However, Mr Rohr said: “It is not an easy group because Guinea is a good and young team, Madagascar was the first to qualify for African Cup of Nations and Burundi eliminated Gabon en-route to the Nations Cup, so it is not going to be as easy as everyone thinks. My players will just have to finish well and healthy in their various clubs and then prepare for our friendly matches against Ghana at home in Nigeria and against Senegal before the start of the tournament in Egypt."

Winger Ahmed Musa, added: “We will prepare well for the Nations Cup and with hard work, we will qualify from this group. I wish my colleagues the best of luck in their various clubs as they round off the season and prepare for the African Cup of Nations."

Former Super Eagles striker and the 1997 African Footballer of the Year, Victor Ikpeba, said Nigeria's group is decent enough and the players only need to be business-minded going into the competition. Nigeria will begin her tournament on June 22 against Burundi at the Alexandria Stadium and then face Guinea June 26 before rounding off the group matches against Madagascar on June 30.

Ikpeba said: “We have a decent group but we should not look down on any team.  If the Super Eagles players will go to Egypt with a business-mindset to get the job done, we will qualify from the group with ease."