By Sab Osuji

Super Eagles assistant coach, SylvanusOkpala, says the senior national will be at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals slated for South Africa next year, insisting that the Nigerian team will bounce back to rule African football once again.

Reflecting on the team’s performance in the concluded Juneprogramme which saw the Stephen Keshi squad play three competitive games in three weeks, Okpala said their experiment worked out well since they did not lose any match and that the players, coaches and even the NFF deserve commendation.

“I must say that the tight programme was not peculiar to Nigeria’s Super Eagles alone but for all the teams that took part in the Nations Cup and World Cup qualifiers in June,”Okpala said.

“But then we have to thank God that we were able to get the results that we got. This is just a sign of better things to come because I think, yes, I believe we will make it to the 2013 Nations Cup finals.”

The former Enugu Rangers player and one-time Enyimba of Aba coach continued: “No doubt there were moments one would think it was going to be difficult. But let me say that the players that we used to prosecute the games against Namibia, Malawi and Rwanda games were put together just within three weeks.

“What I mean by this is that being a mixture of home and foreign-based players, it was the first time we have had to be together for this period of time.

“So we put the team together to see what we can achieve and that is the reason why we, the coaches, led by Stephen Keshi, deserve some kudos including the players too.”

Okpala admitted that the Super Eagles have not yet arrived, saying that a lot still remains to be done.
“No doubt we still have more to do in the team. The cohesion was not there, I mean cohesion in the sense that a team built in just three weeks cannot be perfect.

“So if we can get the home and foreign-based players to achieve this feat within this three weeks period, it only goes to show that signs of better days to come are there.

“It means that when we are through with our rebuilding process, Nigeria will bounce back to rule African football once again as was the case in the past,”Okpala declared.