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RMA
AFCON 2025
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Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba discussed Nigeria's World Cup qualification struggles.
Ivorian football legend Didier Drogba has urged fans of the Super Eagles to offer more grace to the team amid recent struggles, citing their AFCON silver medal triumph and the level of competition on the continent.
What Drogba said
Nigeria risked missing out on consecutive World Cups after an inconsistent qualifying campaign. However, a strong end and some favourable mathematics helped Nigeria reach the playoffs.
In Drogba’s recent interview on SportyTv, the interviewer presented the qualification struggle as a fall from grace and asked the legendary striker what Nigeria could do to return to glory days.
However, the former Galatasaray rejected the idea that Nigeria were in a crises, reminding the interviewer that the Super Eagles reached the final of the last AFCON (losing to his Ivory Coast)
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“You know, if Nigeria had won the African Cup of Nations, you wouldn’t even be saying that,” Drogba said.
“But that’s football, you know; it doesn’t mean that your team is not good. They were in the final. You were supporting them all through the campaign, and then all of a sudden they lose, then finish!
“They’re so bad, they criticise them from right to left, and it’s always like that in Africa. You finish 2nd; it’s like Chelsea finishing 2nd in the Premier League. Like it doesn’t count.”
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Drogba acknowledged the level of talent in the Super Eagles' ranks and how that directly contributes to the level of expectations. However, he noted that the level of competition in the continent is high, and big games matter little.
“That’s the level of expectation because you have won before. So I think the team is good. You have Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman β they won the last two Ballon d’Or. I mean, you have a team that can perform, but then you have opposition. You think the other team, because it’s Nigeria, they’re gonna sit like this?”
“The name is one thing. The most important thing is what’s happening behind. If they haven’t won, they will find ways to solve their problems. I don’t know if they have problems, but I think they are a strong team.”