AFCON 2025: Play with Confidence, Odegbami Charges Super Eagles Ahead of Algeria Clash

Former Super Eagles captain and 1980 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) winner, Segun Odegbami, has called on the Nigerian national team to convert their individual brilliance into collective dominance by playing with confidence and strong self-belief.

Odegbami made the appeal in a video message shared on the Super Eagles’ official X handle on Friday, where he stressed that belief is often the decisive factor at the highest level of international football.

“It is about confidence, it is about belief that you can do it. You know, the difference between football in countries is not much. From match to match, when you look at them, what makes you win is so small,” he said.

“From match to match, it could just be one moment of magic, it could just be one moment you are lucky, it could just be somebody’s mistake, and occasionally it is because you play well, you are coherent and so on and so forth.

“So there are so many factors that come into winning, but the most important one is confidence and self-belief,” he stressed.

Reflecting on Nigeria’s football heritage, Odegbami maintained that the Super Eagles boast a level of talent and pedigree that should command respect across the continent. He pointed to the depth of quality within the team, both past and present, as evidence of Nigeria’s enduring football strength.

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“With the quality that we have, with our history and the numbers that we have, no country in Africa should be struggling with us, from competition to competition,” he said.

“And you see, last year it was Victor Osimhen, now it is Ademola Lookman. We have the stuff; we’ve had them all the time. I look at those that never became Africa’s Player of the Year, so many, Mikel Obi and all that generation of players, even JJ never became, just to tell you the depth of talent that we have.”

As the Super Eagles continue their AFCON campaign, Odegbami urged the players to approach matches with conviction, noting that confident performances are more likely to produce deserved victories rather than outcomes driven by luck.

“So as we prepare, my advice to the Super Eagles is that they should play confidently, they should play without fear, they should play like champions.

“You know, when you play like that, you more often than not win, and you win deservedly because it is not by luck, it is not by chance, it is because you are good.”

The 1980 AFCON hero concluded with a strong call for the team to assert themselves on the pitch and live up to the expectations placed on three-time African champions.

“Go out there and play and perform and entertain and, you know, just go out there and dominate and win. We have the players to do it,” he said.

Odegbami’s message comes ahead of the Super Eagles’ AFCON quarter-final showdown against Algeria in Marrakesh, Morocco, scheduled for Saturday.