Former Nigeria international, Baldwin Bazuaye has admonished Nigerians not to be too hard on the Super Eagles after they struggled to beat minnows, Swallows of Burundi 1-0 in their Group B opener at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Odion Ighalo, who came in as a second-half substitute, saved the Eagles blushes with the only goal of the game in the 77th minute after a creative assist from Ola Aina.
Bazuaye who is now a coach with Bendel Insurance feels the Eagles cannot be judged on the performance in one match and that Nigerians must be patient with the team to ensure that they improve in their next fixture with Guinea.
“I will say the three points are more important than anything else irrespective of how the points were got,” Bazuaye told Goal.
“The Eagles struggled against Burundi because it was their first game and their opponents came all out to prove a point. I expect the Eagles game to improve better than this in the next game.
Next matches
“I want to appeal to Nigerians to be mindful of what they say and try to be patient with this team. Football is evolving on the continent every day and the bridge between the minnows and the favourites is almost closing up. We got the three points and emphasis should be on correcting the loopholes noticed and seeking improvement against Guinea.”
The soft-spoken coach, however, believed that Nigerians are yet to see the true potential of the Eagles and the best time to assess them would be at the end of the group stage matches.
“I still think that we are yet to see the real Super Eagles and if we remain calm, we will be able to see that after the first round games,” he continued.
“The main objective of the first game was just to record a win because a winning start will calm the players down and it will make them play without anxiety in the second game. I want to see the real Eagles as from the game with Guinea, who remain our biggest threat in the group.”
The Eagles are on top of Group B table with three points from a game after Madagascar and Guinea ended their affairs 2-2 in the other group tie played on Saturday. Both teams are joint second with a point each. Burundi are last without any point yet.