2018 World Cup Qualifiers: Eagles in 'group of death'. It's a tough draw - Pinnick
The Super Eagles face a very difficult task of qualifying for a third
straight World Cup after they were drawn with Zambia, Cameroon and
Algeria in the final round of qualification series for the 2018 FIFA
World Cup finals.
Except Zambia’s Chipolopolo, who were not at the World Cup two years
ago in Brazil, the other opponents, Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions and
Algeria’s Fennecs represented Africa at the 2014 Mundial.
The draw which was held in Cairo, Egypt, yesterday has set the tone for
the qualifying tournament for Russia 2018, which starts in October 2016
and ends in November 2017.
The Super Eagles tough qualifying group was not unexpected as they
failed to be among the top five seeds for the draw caused by a poor FIFA
ranking.
Nigeria will be under pressure to make it to Russia 2018 after they failed to qualify for next year’s AFCON in Gabon.
Reacting to the draw, President of Nigeria Football Federation(NFF),
Amaju Pannick said: “It is a tough draw, but then I have always said
that you have to beat the best to get to the World Cup. Now we have the
draw, we know how to prepare. The preparation has to start right now and
we must make good use of every single day leading to the kick–off of
the series.
“The other pools are tough as well, because for me, you can never
afford to under–rate any team these days. Now we must quickly sort out
the issue of Head Coach and his assistants and put every other thing in
place in good time,” he said.
GROUP A: Tunisia, Libya, DR Congo, Guinea
GROUP B: Zambia, Cameroon, Algeria, Nigeria
GROUP C: Gabon, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco
GROUP D: Senegal, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde
GROUP E: Ghana, Egypt, Congo, Uganda
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