AFCON 2025: Eric Chelle reveals what he must fix after 3–2 Tunisia win, names one of his wishes for Super Eagles

Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has admitted that their struggles in the last 20 regulation minutes of the AFCON Group C clash against Tunisia signalled room for improvement. 

Nigeria beat the Carthage Eagles 3–2 to advance to the knockout stage of the AFCON. While the scoreline suggests a tightly contested encounter, Nigeria dominated for over 70 minutes and had a 3–0 lead. 

However, they struggled to control the later stages and let Tunisia back into the game. They risked failing to secure a victory despite having accrued such an advantage; hence, Chelle said he will work on improving that aspect. 

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In a conversation with RFI after the game, the former Mali national team head coach revealed that the final moments of the game made him uneasy. However, he praised his team for making the typically sturdy Tunisia defence look ordinary. 

“Those final 15 or so minutes will give me nightmares,” Chelle said, per Yahoo Sports. “I was going a little bit crazy about what was happening because the players deserved a big game. And it was a test against a big team like Tunisia.”

“Tunisia didn't let in one goal during the World Cup qualifiers. Three goals against this team! This is for me, a great game. We kept the ball so well during 70 or so minutes.”

Chelle believes their performance against Sami Trabelsi’s side deserved a bigger scoreline and looks to the future for a result that will spell dominance. 

“We still have to play a game that will bring the confidence and show our ambitions. There's positives in Tunisia's comeback. “It shows that there is still something for us to work on and something to improve. It will keep me and my players motivated.”

Nigeria play Uganda in the third game of the group stage; however, with Chelle expected to rest most of his key players, having secured qualification, the big result the French-Malian craves would most likely come at a later date.