Ice the Champagne, Not Yet Time to Celebrate, Peseiro Tells Nigerians

*Lookman attributes braces to collective efforts of his Super Eagles teammates 

Duro Ikhazuagbe

Head Coach of Super Eagles, Jose Peseiro, has warned that it is not yet time for celebration despite overcoming Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions  2-0 for Nigeria to reach the quarter finals of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire.

Two goals by Ademola Lookman gave Super Eagles the sweet victory over their rival, Cameroon.

In the frenzy of celebrations that followed the victory, the Portuguese gaffer cautioned his ward, tressing that time has really not come for merriments.

He intends to focus now on the potentially dicey clash with Angola in the quarter-finals of the on-going Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.

He remarked at the post match conference that he had to start planning for the next assignment.

“We will now focus on our next match against Angola, which is having an excellent tournament. We must take this opponent seriously, so we will continue to sleep early and eat pasta (laughs). Jokes aside, all the teams at this stage are capable of winning the tournament,” concludes Peseiro.

Scorer of the two goals in the 2-0 Ademola Lookman, however attributed the victory to his  teammates’ collective effort in qualifying Nigeria for the quarter finals.

The Atalanta man who was named Man of the Match, said shortly he was presented with his award: “Wow, we’re so happy to qualify for the quarter-finals.

“The more we play together, the more fluid we become. I’m standing here now but this award reflects the whole team’s performance,” gushed Lookman in excitement.

The 26-year-old is relishing his first AFCON experience: “I love this atmosphere, it’s incredible. Tonight our fans pushed us to the end because this was Cameroon, and when you wear the Super Eagles shirt, some games resonate more than others.”

On Friday, Nigeria will face Angola in the quarters after they beat Namibia 3-0 earlier on Saturday.  Lookman added: “Angola are a good team. We’ll analyze them and prepare. The further you go, the tougher it gets so we’ll take it game by game,” concludes Lookman.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles are searching for their fourth title. They last won the trophy at South Africa 2013. 

Lookman’s brace brings them one step closer to ending that drought.

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