Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle is expecting a great game of football when his home-based Eagles square up against the Heroes of Zanzibar on Monday, July 28, Footynaija.com reports.
The Super Eagles are in Zanzibar as they gear up for the African Nations Championships (CHAN), with the tournament set to take place from August 2 to August 30 in the Eastern region of Africa.
Eric Chelle sees the upcoming friendly match against a Zanzibar side he described as “a very good team with great technical staff” as an opportunity to test his team’s readiness for the challenge ahead.
What Eric Chelle said
“We have a great game tomorrow against Zanzibar. I think this is a good team with great technical staff, with good players. It will be a great game, and we need to prepare and play against a team like Zanzibar,” Chelle said in quotes revealed by ACL sports.
“For us, it’s a very good thing to prepare for the CHAN. Our ambitions during the CHAN are to take the games one-on-one, one after another, and we will see what we can do in this competition.”
Chelle also shed some light on his side’s preparation process, revealing that the team has been working together for the past couple of weeks and they’re set to continue training in Zanzibar. He also expressed gratitude to the hosts for their hospitality.
“About our preparation, we started two weeks ago with a first camp in Ikenne near Lagos,” he continued. “So we did work a lot—physically, tactically, and of course, technically. And now, we continue our preparation here in Zanzibar.”
“Thank you for welcoming us again, thank you very much. The structure is in Zanzibar. I think you have some good structure. So your environment is perfect for us. We can work again tactically and technically.”
Three nations -Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania- will host the tournament, with stern tests against Senegal, Sudan and Congo awaiting the home-based Super Eagles.