AFCON 2023: “We want to do our talking on the pitch” – Kenneth Omeruo backs Super Eagles to seal semi-final spot

Kenneth Omeruo played all seven games as the Super Eagles triumphed in South Africa during the AFCON 2013 tournament, under the mentorship of the Late Stephen Keshi.

Super Eagles and Kasimpasa centre back, Kenneth Omeruo, has urged the Nigerian football team to show their doggedness as they tackle Angola on Friday, Soccernet.ng reports.

Omeruo, 30, was part of the team that tasted continental success in 2013 as they brought the AFCON trophy back home after a Sunday Mba strike sent shivers down the spine of the Burkina Faso team, ending their dream of glory and handing them gloom.

Eleven years later, the former Chelsea defender, now in his immaculate maturity, and among the leaders in the team, has urged Jose Peseiro’s men to avoid history as both sides have five draws between them.

“We do not need to go into back-and-forth chatter with any team. The Super Eagles are in Cote d’Ivoire for serious business. We have not played Angola for a long time but I remember we played them in 2012 in a friendly and it ended in a draw. I have also read of how previous encounters between the two countries have been quite close,” the former Leganese defender said after one of the team’s training sessions.

For Omeruo, nothing but a win will do, and he called on his teammates to channel the NAIJA spirit ahead of the match as they want to walk the talk and go all the way in Ivory Coast.

“There is no possibility of Friday’s match ending in a draw; a winner must emerge. So much talk has been going on. Our collective resolve is to do the talking on the pitch. The Nigeria Spirit trumps all,” the 1.85m tall defender added.

The 2013 AFCON winner sounded a note of warning to all the remaining teams in the tournament, telling them the Super Eagles compete with the aim of nothing but glory.

“We drew our first match and many people concluded that we are not here to compete strongly for the trophy. They have since admitted that we may be up to something after we defeated Cote d’Ivoire, and then Cameroon. We must continue to work hard, believe in ourselves and put in a solid shift each day and time we get onto the field” he added.

Nigeria slightly edges ahead considering the history between them and Angola. The Super Eagles have won three, lost two and drawn five games against the Palancas Negras.