Go and win a bronze medal - NFF tells Super Eagles to fight against Egypt

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, has charged the Super Eagles to put their semi-final disappointment behind them and focus on winning the third-place playoff against Egypt.

Nigeria suffered a painful 4-2 penalty shootout defeat to host nation Morocco on Wednesday night in Rabat, bringing an end to their hopes of reaching the final.

The result sets up a clash with Egypt’s Pharaohs for the bronze medal at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca on Saturday.

Speaking in an interview with thenff.com, Gusau stressed the importance of mental resilience and maintaining focus after the narrow loss.

“It is important to retain focus by not continuing to dwell on what happened in the semi-final match,” Gusau said. “As far as we are concerned, the team coped well in the circumstances, navigating several challenges and playing their game.”

The NFF president also reflected on the nature of penalty shootouts, offering a perspective on the outcome against Morocco.

“Penalty shootouts remain lotteries in the game and it could have gone either way.

“Two years ago, they won their semi-final match of the AFCON after a penalty shootout. This time, it was not meant to be,” he added.

Despite missing out on a place in the final, Gusau expressed pride in the Super Eagles’ overall performance at the championship, particularly their attacking output.

“The NFF is proud of the output of the team at this championship. They gave their best and remain the team to have scored the most goals here,” he said.

Gusau emphasised the importance of ending the tournament on a positive note by securing the bronze medal.

“We will talk to them to pick up their morale and go for the bronze so that they will have something from a tournament in which they have done so well,” he said.

The third-place playoff against Egypt offers the Super Eagles an opportunity to finish the competition on a high and cap an otherwise impressive campaign.