Super Eagles winger, Ahmed Musa, is desperate for the team to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017, after missing out on the 2015 edition.
Nigeria failed to qualify for the tournament staged in Equatorial Guinea, where they would have defended their trophy. However, they have a chance to return to the continental competition, when they host Chad this weekend in a qualifying match.
Musa says his team-mates are raring to go and are motivated to win the game which will be played in Kaduna.
“What I’m looking forward to is victory but we have to work very hard because this is our first game in the qualifiers. All of us are here and we have been training very hard to ensure that we win this match,” Musa told Cafonline.com.
“We have not played against them before but we have to be confident that we can get it done. There is the possibility for us to win but we have to work hard too.
“We know it is going to be a tough match being the first game of the qualifiers but we are playing at home in Kaduna and that is an extra motivation for us because we know the fans in Kaduna would be there to support us.”
When Musa was asked about Nigeria’s chances of making it, the former Kano Pillars insisted that not only will the Eagles qualify, they will make an impact.
“It is unfortunate that it happened that way but we know football is full of such uncertainties. The fact that we did not qualify for the last Afcon means that we have to work harder this time because it is a tough group. We just have to work hard and do much better this time around; we just have to do it,” he continued.
“For me, I always give my 100 percent anytime I come down to play for Nigeria. It has always been a pride to play for the country.
“By the grace of God, I want to assure Nigerians that we are going to qualify for the next Afcon in Gabon and we are not targeting just qualification; we want to go there and make a huge impact.
“We want to make Nigerians happy because we know they were not happy the last time when we failed to qualify. We want to work harder and make them (the fans) have more believe in the Super Eagles.”
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