Eagles are top contenders –Amuneke

Former Super Eagles winger, Emmanuel Amuneke believes despite missing Victor Osimhen at the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations tournament, Nigeria remains a top contender for the AFCON title.

Amuneke won the 1994 AFCON title with the Eagles and was Tanzania’s coach in the 2019 edition in Egypt where they failed to advance from the group revealed it was disappointing to see the Napoli striker miss out on the tournament due to injury.

The former African Footballer of Year who is also a member of the Technical Study Group for the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon said; ”reigning champions remain the favorites to win the title.

“Algeria is the reigning champions, and they are the favorites.”

Amuneke said; “Senegal is a very strong team, so are the hosts Cameroon, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco and Tunisia. It will be very difficult to predict who will win the title because we have so many great teams here. There are big changes in African football, players with a global dimension, it is promising.

“In Europe today, African footballers play the leading roles in their clubs and evolve in the top clubs in the world. That must be reflected in this competition.

“We would have liked to see players like Osimhen who is doing very well in a very tough league in Italy.

“But the most important in life is health and we pray he will regain his health very quickly. He will play other tournaments for his country and certainly the World Cup qualifying play-offs.

“Oshimen is a young footballer, but he is part of the present and future of Nigerian, African and world football. It’s sad not to see him at AFCON, but he will be there soon. Despite everything, the selected players have a lot of quality. Nigeria will bravely defend their chances in this competition.

PUNCH/Mercy Chukwudiebere

PUNCH/Mercy Chukwudiebere