'Believe in us' - Musa begs Nigerians

Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa has charged Nigerians not to lose trust in the team as they hope to win a fourth Africa Cup of Nations title at the 34th edition of the tournament, which holds from January 13 to February 11 in Ivory Coast, The PUNCH reports.

The three-time champions are in Group A, which also has hosts Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.

Musa’s wish is coming after the Eagles lacklustre pre-AFCON friendly, which they lost 2-0 to Guinea at the Bani Yas Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Monday.

The game marked the end of their one-week training camp in the Middle East and they will depart for Ivory Coast via Lagos on Wednesday (today).

Despite the defeat that overshadowed their preparations for the tournament, Musa insists that the squad are confident going into the AFCON.

“Everybody is excited and waiting to go to Abidjan. After the last game in Uyo, when the campaign started, we told ourselves about going there to shine. We can see all the quality in the squad and we can’t say otherwise. In football anything can happen but we have the confidence,” Musa told NFF TV.

“Even the coach has set a target of winning the AFCON for himself too. I just want Nigerians to believe in the team, with their support we can go far.”

Musa and Kenneth Omeruo are the only members of Nigeria’s last AFCON-winning team in South Africa 2013, who are part of the current team.

During the 2013 tournament, the 31-year-old scored in Nigeria’s 4-1 win over Mali in the semi-final and also came on as a substitute in the final against Burkina Faso.

Having won the tournament in 1980, 1994 and 2013, Nigeria will begin their quest for a fourth title in Ivory Coast against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday January 14 before filing out against the hosts four days later while they play Guinea Bissau in their last group game January 22.