Nigeria caretaker coach Salisu Yusuf has said the country must have the self-belief they will qualify for a third straight World Cup even though they will not be one of the top seeds at Friday’s draw for the qualifying tournament.
In March, three-time African champions Nigeria failed to qualify for a second straight Africa Cup of Nations and now face a daunting task to reach Russia 2018 after they were seeded in Pot 2 and will now draw the likes of Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal or Tunisia from Pot 1.
Yusuf, 54, has maintained that with self-belief and the right mentality the Eagles could still advance to a sixth World Cup by November 2017.
“We may not be one of the top seeds for the qualifiers, but that does not mean we are not good enough to qualify for the World Cup,” Yusuf told AfricanFootball.com
“We cannot afford to dwell on not qualifying for next year’s Nations Cup because that is now history and football is about now, about seizing the moment.
“Our recent matches beginning with the Nations Cup qualifiers against Egypt have proved we have the quality and a bright future, which we only have to build on.
“It now means we have to beat one of the top seeds to be in Russia and to do that we must have the right mentality and believe in ourselves and the team that we can do that.”
The coach, who led Nigeria to two heart-warming wins against Mali and Luxembourg in recent friendlies, further praised the current group of players in the national team, saying they are desirous of proving the critics wrong.
“It’s a group of exciting young players who are hungry to make a name for themselves and in so doing, they will also make history for Nigeria,” he remarked.
“I have no doubt they will qualify the country to the next World Cup.”
Nigeria have featured at the 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014, reaching the knockout stages of the tournament thrice.