Former Nigeria international Garba Lawal has urged the Super Eagles to ‘make things right’ by defeating Tunisia in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations third/fourth-place playoff on Wednesday.
The West Africans have had a roller-coaster outing in the tournament, surprisingly losing to Madagascar in their final group game, thus, finishing in the second-place behind the Barea with six points, having defeated Guinea and Burundi.
The three-time African champions then saw off Cameroon in the Round of 16 before edging past South Africa in the quarter-final stage.
On Sunday, the West Africans lost 2-1 to Algeria, with Manchester City star Riyad Mahrez scoring the decisive goal with a last-minute free-kick.
Lawal, who won three bronze medals with the Super Eagles in 2002, 2004 and 2006, wants Gernot Rohr’s men not to leave any stone unturned in their quest to defeat the Carthage Eagles at Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo.
“For sure they are playing for pride and I believe it is painful to the players and the coaches to lose to Algeria,” Lawal told Goal.
“I believe they will go back and make things right in the third-place match and for sure they will not sleep off.
“Nigeria will be playing against another North Africans, my advice for them is to approach the game like any other match. North Africans are always very tricky and dangerous.
“This is the last game for us in Egypt and I believe the players will like to go all out against Tunisia to ensure they win the third-place match. Nigeria will conquer Tunisia by the grace of God.”
The Super Eagles have never lost against Tunisia in four encounters in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Nigeria have won each of their six third-place games in the continental tournament, all in the regular time, keeping a clean sheet in four of these six encounters.
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