We are not in Porto Novo to party, Aina, Troost-Ekong sure of Eagles victory
Fulham right-back Ola Aina and Watford centre-back William Troost-Ekong have promised the Nigeria national team will not leave any stone unturned in their effort to secure victory over Benin.
The Super Eagles will square off against the Squirrels in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game at Stade Charles de Gaulle, Porto Novo on Saturday.
Nigeria lead the Group L table with eight points from four games, despite battling to back-to-back draws against lowly-rated Sierra Leone in November.
Aina, who arrived in the Benin Republic on Friday along with his teammates and other members of the Super Eagles crew by boat, assured his side will do all they can to win the game.
“As strange as it sounds, I believe everyone’s moved on from that Sierra Leone game but the lessons learned stays with us,” Aina told BBC Sport.
“We travel to Benin with all seriousness, we’ll go there and try to win the game before hosting Lesotho at home.”
read also:How Super Eagles trained under darkness in head of Benin tie – Rohr
Super Eagles vice-captain Troost-Ekong revealed his side have learnt from their outings against the Leone Stars, against whom they surrendered a 4-0 lead to draw 4-4 in Benin City.
“Those games were a massive talking point. Drawing 4-4 after being 4-0 up is something unheard of and one of the strangest experiences of my career. I look at it as another experience in the bag,” Troost-Ekong said.
“We are top of the table and need one point to qualify as group winners. I’m sure we are going to do it. I’ve got lots of confidence in our team. We have a very good team and I’m looking forward to playing.
“I’m really looking forward to the games and coming back having qualified for Nigeria. It’s massive for us.”
The three-time African champions last failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 and also missed the previous edition in 2015.
Victory over Benin will seal Nigeria’s place at the biennial tournament in Cameroon and they will then take on Lesotho in their final qualifying game in Lagos on Tuesday.
The Super Eagles finished third at the last edition of the continental tournament in Egypt, behind winners Algeria and Senegal.