3 months ago
19 Calvin Bassey has said the Super Eagles current position in Group C in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers does not put them under pressure.
After 1-1 draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, the Eagles are in third position.
The AFCON 2023 finalists are two points behind leaders Rwanda and second-placed South Africa.
Despite the early struggle, Bassey expressed confidence that since the Eagles are unbeaten in the qualifiers, then they are still in the race.
“Being in third spot in the table doesn’t put us We under any pressure because we haven’t lost any game and I think everyone knows how good we are now, everyone doubted us at the AFCON but we were able to get to the final,” Bassey said in an interview with Super Eagles Media Officer Promise Efoghe.
“I don’t think we’ve showed what we have, we still have more games to go. We’ve got a team that’s been together for two years, we are building something. And people forget that even though we are experience players we are still a young team, obviously, we have some experience but we are still young and it’s just about working and making sure that we have the vital moments in the game and take our chances and God willing we come away with three points.”
The Fulham star reflected on the semi-final clash between the Eagles and South Africa at the AFCON 2023.
After a pulsating 1-1 draw in regulation time, the Eagles went on to win 4-2 on penalties.
“You take confidence from it (semi-finals win at AFCON 2023) but at the same time you can’t look down on them. We know how strong they were of course the game went into penalties. We know what to expect from the game and we are ready for the game.”
On playing in front of the fans at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium:”It’s always a confidence booster to have our nation behind us and supporting us. It is always a boost for us, of course we are looking forward to the game as well.”
The former Ajax defender expressed displeasure over the issue of delay caused by the Labour strike which saw led to him and some of his teammates arriving late to camp.
“It’s annoying because you want to spend more time like international period can be during the season, 10 days to a week,” he added.
“So when you have the opportunity to have two weeks, another manager wants to take full advantage of that but like I said before we’ve been together for a long time, the manager knows each and every one of us.”
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