Nigeria’s home-based national team captain, Junior Nduka has described the CHAN Eagles’ victory over Ghana on Saturday as a big boost for the domestic league.
Nduka, who is also the skipper of high-riding Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) side, Remo Stars of Ikenne, stated in an exclusive chat with sports247.ng that their 3-1 win means a lot to him and his colleagues.
He pointed out that the victory at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo became significant in many dimensions, especially as it takes Nigeria back to the Championship of African Nations (CHAN) after several years of missing out.
Nduka added, “It truly means a lot to us because, for over six years, Nigeria has not been able to defeat Ghana and scale through to the next round nor qualify into the tournament proper.
“That’s why I’m happy that we’ve been able to break the jinx. Not just me alone. It’s something that’s really good for all players in the team and for the NPFL.”
The dreadlocks-wearing stopper, who contributed one of the goals of the match, went on to speak about positive ripple effects that will come with Nigeria’s outing at the forthcoming CHAN in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
“This will help us to boost our league. It will also help us to boost our individual profiles as well. This is my first cap in the national team, and it really means a lot to me.
“We in the entire team are happy because, at the end of 90 minutes, we won the match. Apart from just winning the match, we are all happy that we qualified. We are also happy that we were able to break the jinx.
“We knew what was at stake, and we knew how important the game was to us. Now we have something big to look forward to,” Nduka posited.
