Calvin Bassey is hoping the Super Eagles can produce their first defensive shutout of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations when they take on Mozambique in Monday night’s round of 16 encounter at the Fes Sporting Complex, Footynaija.com reports.
Nigeria cruised through the group stage with a perfect record but failed to keep a single clean sheet in the process. While their attacking numbers have been impressive, the Super Eagles will no doubt be slightly worried about their inability to keep opponents at bay.
Eric Chelle’s side have now gone six consecutive games without a shutout and for Bassey, who has been quite impressive in this tournament, that trend is one the Super Eagles will be looking to break as they battle the Mambas for a place in the quarter-finals.
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“We always want to keep a clean sheet of course, it’s something me and Semi (Ajayi) talk about us being the central defenders,” the Fulham defender told journalists at the team’s final training session ahead of the Mozambique clash.
“I think if you look at most of the games it’s just little details and we are making sure that going into the next stage we don’t concede such types of goals. It’s a collective effort, we can do more about it, we can improve on it and hopefully we’ll concede less going forward.”
The Super Eagles head into this clash as heavy favourites to progress into the quarterfinals but their defensive frailties must be decisively addressed to prevent any surprises against the Mambas of Mozambique.
A win for the Super Eagles will see them set up a quarterfinals clash against either one of Algeria or DR Congo. For now though, the focus is on dispatching Mozambique and sealing that last eight spot.
