AFCON 2025: Eric Chelle Focused on Winning Start as Super Eagles Face Tanzania, Putting Disappointing World Cup Qualification Aside

Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has made it clear that his priority is delivering a strong opening result as Nigeria begin their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) journey. The Malian tactician is fully focused on guiding the Super Eagles to victory in their first Group C match against Tanzania on Tuesday in Fes.

Speaking during his pre-match press conference on Monday, Chelle emphasized that the team has put recent disappointments behind them and is now fully committed to the task ahead at AFCON 2025. According to the coach, there is no room for distractions as the tournament officially gets underway.

“We are here and we have a game tomorrow and also we have a tournament so we don’t have the time to think about what has happened before,” Chelle said.

“This is not the moment to talk about the World Cup qualiiers, for now the most important thing is this tournament.”

“Our first game is a big game and the first game is very important and for sure we want to win this game.”

Nigeria will open their AFCON 2025 campaign in Group C against Tanzania on Tuesday