We can win AFCON trophy - Omeruo says despite being drawn with host

Super Eagles stand-in captain, Kenneth Omeruo believes the team can lift the AFCON trophy in Ivory Coast.

The Eagles last won the tournament in 2013 in South Africa.

The team ended up claiming the trophies in the 1980 edition of the AFCON on home soil, before going on to win the 1994 edition in Tunisia.

The three times African champions tackle hosts Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau in Group A as the draw concluded in Abidjan on Thursday.

Speaking to the NFF media, Omeruo said he believed that with the quality of the team, the Eagles could go on to win the title again, thus adopting the catch-phrase ‘Let’s Do It Again’ as their battle cry towards winning a fourth Africa Cup of Nations title in early next year.

“I think the group we find ourselves matters because in football you ought to find yourself in an easy group so you come out top and from there you can find your way. But like I said if we have the winning mentality it doesn’t matter what team we face and I am excited looking forward to knowing our opponents.

“I do believe we have the quality to win the AFCON, we have to take every game step by step and create the winning mentality the coach talked about. The coach has brought top players into the squad and I know some of them, I have played against Fisayo (Dele-Bashiru) in Turkey and I can say the players are top ones.”

The 34th edition of the AFCON scheduled to take place from January 13 to February 11, 2024 will be hosted by Ivory Coast across five cities.

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