Leone Stars captain optimistic of defeating Super Eagles in return leg
Leone Stars’ team captain Steven Caulker is optimistic about Sierra Leone’s chances of defeating Nigeria when they meet in the reverse fixture in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers.
First-half goals by Alex Iwobi and Victor Osimhen made the difference as the Super Eagles won 2-1 at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja on Thursday.
The Nigerian side struck back after Sierra Leone took a shock early lead in a display that was hardly the most convincing.
Caulker told journalists at a post-match conference that he was confident that his team would get a result against the Super Eagles on home soil in March 2023.
He noted that his team showed too much respect for Nigeria during Thursday’s game and as a result made too many errors.
The centre-back added that they would however go back to the drawing board and correct their mistakes.
“I am very optimistic about our chances as we await the return leg of this fixture on home soil because we held our own during a large part of the game. We definitely got some areas to improve on, but like the coach said we are in a period of transition with a young team,” the Leone Star skipper stated.
He further mentioned that his team “missed it when we sat back on our lead and gave Nigeria too much respect and allowed them back into the game.”
Caulker noted that there were a lot of positives to take from the game and claimed that poor officiating caused his team from taking something out of the game.
“It’s just one game and we still have five more to play even though we felt that there were a few decisions that on another day could have hopefully gone our way. We’d like to think that when we host Nigeria we will have these kinds of decisions go our way and hopefully win the game,” explained Caulker. “These decisions change games and I think we were a little unfortunate today as it could have been a different result.”
After the first round of Group A games in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers, Guinea-Bissau are top with three points with a superior goals difference (+4).
The Super Eagles also have three points and a goal difference of +1.
Sierra Leone and São Tomé and Principe have no points, and are in third and fourth positions, respectively.
(NAN)
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
Africa
ICPC urges African leaders to scale up fight against anti-corruption
According to him, integrity, transparency, and the rule of law remain the foundation for sustainable development, democratic governance and economic growth in Africa.
Lagos
Lagos urges anti-harassment policies to protect women, workers
She noted that women accounted for more than 90 per cent of the reported workplace harassment cases.
States
Flooding: Ekiti LG boss warns residents against building structures on waterways
“We will no longer tolerate lawlessness and violations of government directives stating that nobody should build houses on waterways,” she said.
States
Ogun govt threatens to close markets over indiscriminate dumping of waste
Mr Akintunde described the practice of dumping refuse in markets rather than at designated collection points as unacceptable.
Politics
2027: PDP uploads presidential, National Assembly candidates’ names on INEC portal
The PDP uploaded the names of its 2027 presidential, vice-presidential, and NASS candidates to the INEC nomination portal.
Economy
Car dealers express mixed reactions to lower vehicle import duties
Import duty on used vehicles was recently reviewed from 15 per cent to five per cent, while brand new vehicles dropped from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.
