Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has opened up on his thoughts following Nigeria’s victory over Jamaica in the Unity Cup final at the Gtech Stadium, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Malian tactician praised several standout performers, detailed his tactical approach, and made clear his ambitions for the team ahead of their upcoming clash against Russia.
Speaking in his post-match conference, as observed by Soccernet.ng, Chelle reflected on the significance of the tournament, the team’s mentality, areas that need improvement, and individual player contributions.
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On the timing and purpose of the Unity Cup:
“In the last press conference, I spoke about my initial thoughts on this tournament. To be honest, I wasn’t in full agreement with it at first because it’s the end of the season. It’s difficult to bring in our players — they’ve had a long, tiring campaign.
But then I thought about it again and said, ‘Okay, at least I get to be with my players,’ and that made me happy.
The second thing is that we have an important goal in September. So I saw this as an opportunity to give many players a chance to show what they can do. And I’m really happy and proud of them because, in just two or three training sessions, they worked really hard. That’s the reality.
During this tournament, we scored goals, we created chances, and we showed some very good things in our game. But of course, we still need to work. We have weaknesses. In today’s game, for instance, we made 22 mistakes — that’s a lot.
We need to improve, to step up as a group and as a team, especially if we want to qualify for the World Cup.”
On Nigeria’s tactical setup:
“If you rewatch today’s game, you’ll see we started with a diamond formation. Around the 25th or 30th minute in the first half, we switched to a 4-2-3-1, and later we played a 4-4-2. I think the players stayed focused throughout.
At the end of the day, I believe we deserved to win this tournament.”
On the team’s mindset and character:
“Right now, I can say that my players have a great spirit and a strong mindset. That makes me happy. We’ll keep working and thinking about our game project.
The most important thing for me is that we play together — both in defence and offence. We need to improve all the time, mentally and physically. We must become warriors on the pitch.”
On Christantus Uche’s impact:
“[Christantus] Uche made a great impact coming on the pitch. I’m very happy with his performance. He deserves to be in the Nigeria team.
The reality is, this team has a lot of good strikers and wingers. It’s difficult to pick because we have many great players.”
On Benjamin Frederick’s performance:
“Benjamin Frederick was good. He was very calm and composed. Technically, he’s close to perfect — especially when it comes to touching the ball and making strong passes.
He reads the game well, but of course, there’s room for improvement. We conceded a goal, and maybe he could have done something differently in that situation.
Like I always say about our players — even when they play well — we still need to improve every day.
My assistant even joked that I should take credit for his performance because I selected him. But really, it’s just one game — a big one — and he needs to keep working hard and improving.”
Watch the video here:
Eric Chelle speaks on Benjamin Frederick’s performance in Super Eagles’ win over Jamaica. #NGAJAM pic.twitter.com/zPYM8ikWCy
— Soccernet.ng (@soccernet_ng) May 31, 2025
On Nigeria’s next match against Russia:
“Now we go to Russia, and our goal is to win every game. We’re not just travelling for a match — we’re going there to win.
Right now, I think we’re still in Jamaica — mentally, it feels like it because of how tough the game was. But we must now shift focus.
Playing away from home is never easy. That’s why we’re working on the mental side of things. That was my message to the players:
We need to show the football world our mindset, our hunger.
We’re continuing with the same ambition — to go to Russia, get the win, and return to Abuja with our heads held high.”
FT: Jamaica 2-2 Nigeria (Nigeria win 5-4 on pens) #NGAJAM
First trophy for coach Eric Chelle with the Super Eagles. ✅#TheUnityCup pic.twitter.com/rVIbx28nTn
— Soccernet.ng (@soccernet_ng) May 31, 2025
For Nigeria’s international friendly against Russia’s senior men’s team at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Friday, June 6, head coach Eric Chelle has named a 21-man squad. He will be hoping to build on his victory against Ghana and Jamaica at the Unity Cup.