Super Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro says it is important for his side to remain humble going into their Group A clash with Guinea-Bissau with the team going to reach a milestone in their 100th AFCON appearance.
The three-time champions will be up against the Djurtus at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium on Monday evening. Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea are on top of Group A with four points.
The Super Eagles defeated hosts Cote d’Ivoire 1-0 on Thursday after picking a draw with Equatorial Guinea in their opening group match.
Peseiro’s men are overwhelming favourites going into the game against Guinea-Bissau.
Baciro Cande’s men have zero point in the competition having lost their opening two fixtures to Cote d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea.
Peseiro yesterday sounded a note of warning his wards to respect their opponent and not allow the win over Cote d’Ivoire get into their head.
“We beat Cote d’Ivoire, it’s good for us, our confidence and what we want to achieve in this competition,” Peseiro said during his interaction with the media on Sunday.
“It also improve our confidence, but we also need to show more commitment. We have to respect the opponent.
“Guinea-Bissau have good players, they can beat any team. We have seen so many shocking results in this competition already.
“It is important for us to take it game by game and not think too far. We want to show better performance, show our quality, and capacity. If we do that no team can beat us.”
A draw will be enough for Peseiro’s men to earn a place in the Round of 16.
Meanwhile, the game against Guinea Bissau will be historic because only three teams have so far achieved
the feat of playing 100 games at AFCON.
The competition’s most successful team Egypt with seven titles have played 109 games, Ghana featured in 104 matches, while Cote d’Ivoire have thus far played 101 games.
Nigeria played their first match in the tournament proper on November 24, 1963, when they lost 6-3 to Egypt in Mumasi.
They hit the half century mark on home soil in 2000, when they pipped Senegal 2-1 in a pulsating quarterfinal match in Lagos.
The Super Eagles have won the tournament thrice – 1980, 1994 and 2013.
