Yusuf, Eagles star celebrate Nigeria’s CHAN ticket

Eagles and their coach coach Salisu Yusuf have hailed Nigeria’s qualification for the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Kenya.
Nigeria defeated Republic of Benin 2-0 in on Saturday at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano after the 1-0 loss the Nigerians suffered last week in Cotonou. Eagles thus qualified on 2-1 aggregate.
A goal by midfielder Rabiu Ali in the 22nd minute and Kingsley Eduwo in the 47th minute was all the Eagles needed to secure the 2018 CHAN ticket at the expense of the Squirrels of Benin Republic.
The coach who spoke to the media after the game said the team still have a lot of work based on the level of the challenge they will face in Kenya.
Yusuf said, “Yes, the players played up to instruction to a great extent but we saw some mistakes here and there but we are happy they came through. Hopefully, we will work very hard to correct the mistakes to ensure we go to the championship with a good team.
“Let me use this opportunity to say I’m happy that we secured the CHAN ticket at the end of the day.”
On his part Ali who scored the first goal said, “We thank God for having patience and believing in us. I am happy that we didn’t disappoint them.”
Yusuf who is also an assistant to Gernot Rohr of the main national team had good review of their opponents’ performance.
“Benin Republic team play like the Cameroonians going all out as a unit and every one of them is quite effective,”
Other countries through to Kenya 2018 are Angola, Congo, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Uganda and Zambia.