Rivers United winger Emeka Atuloma has assured Nigerians of the team’s victory against Angola in the quarter-final clash of the ongoing African Nations Championship on Sunday at the Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier on Sunday.
Atuloma told SportingLife that the team’s ambition is beyond the quarter-finals stage and they could not allow Angola to truncate their aspiration of becoming the first team from Nigeria to lift the trophy.
The home Eagles had a disappointing showing at the last edition in 2016 in Rwanda while the team finished third in 2014 in South Africa.
Atuloma believes that the current squad under the tutelage of Coach Salisu Yusuf has all it takes to win the trophy for Nigeria.
“Nigeria has not won the trophy in this competition and we want to be the first to lift the trophy,” Atuloma said to SportingLife.
He added: “We have been progressing and improving in our game. We played goalless against Rwanda, beating Libya by 1-0 and walloped Equatorial Guinea by 3-1. In fact, our coming back from one goal down against Equatorial Guinea showed the strength and characters of this team. We were so happy that we won our last game and it has boosted our confidence.
“Nigerians should expect a win from us against Angola. Angola is a strong team and we are preparing very hard and determined for victory. We are motivated because we know that Nigerians are expecting a lot from us. I have seen Angola played, they were tactical and fast but in our own case, we are tactical, experienced and we have the pace which I believe will work to our advantage.”