Defender Leon Balogun insists the Super Eagles have the
ability and capacity to come out tops in the two 2017 Africa Cup of Nations
qualifying battles against the Pharaohs in Kaduna and Alexandria.
Both teams face off in Group G of the qualifying race, at
the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna on Day 3 and at the Borg el-Arab Stadium,
Alexandria on Day 4. Nigeria play host on March 25 and Egypt are hosts four
days later.
“We would be targeting to win both matches,” Balogun, who
stars for FSV Mainz of Germany, told NFF website. “If we get the six points,
that would ease our path to the Africa Cup finals. Winning will be the
principle driving us in both matches.
“Egypt is a big football –playing nation, but Nigeria is
also very, very big. There is no complex going into both matches and we have
the men to give us victory in Kaduna and away in Egypt.”
Balogun won his first cap for the Eagles in the
international friendly against Mexico at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta in March
2014, but missed the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil as a result of injury
sustained in that game.
Since then, he has been solid for Nigeria in the defence
with a high work rate, churning out impressive performances, most recently
against Chad at the start of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June
2015, and in friendlies against DR Congo and Cameroon in Belgium in October
2015.
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