‘I have been under pressure’ - Chelle states Super Eagles will not let the AFCON 2021 failure distract them

The team's strong performance in the group stage has drawn parallels to their 2021 campaign, where they won all their group matches only to be knocked out in the Round of 16.

At the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon, Nigeria dominated their group with a perfect record but were eliminated by a 1-0 loss to Tunisia. 

Chelle and his squad are determined to avoid a similar fate and translate their current form into a deep tournament run.

Speaking ahead of their next match, Chelle admitted that pressure has been a constant companion since he assumed the role in 2025. 

"Since I took this job, I have been under pressure," Chelle stated at a pre-match press conference. "This is not a question about the NFF; this is a question about the official, the group, and me. Game after game, we want to be ambitious. We are thinking about the next game."

Despite the high stakes, Chelle described the team's atmosphere as calm and unified, with a singular focus on securing a win against Mozambique.

"We want to win the next game. If God gives us the chance to go to the quarterfinal, we will think about the quarterfinal," he explained. 

"But now we think about this game against Mozambique, and for sure we want to win this game. To answer your question, yeah, we are under pressure."

"I don't focus on what happened before. Like I said every time, we are focused on what happens day after day," he asserted. 

"We are focused on our training session, we are focused on the life of the group, we are focused on the players' behaviour, and we are focused on us."