Eagles won’t toy with African Championship – Shorunmu • Nigeria draw S’Africa, Mali, Mozambique

Super Eagles assistant coach, Ike Shorunmu

Super Eagles assistant coach, Ike Shorunmu, has assured Nigerians that the team will take the African Nations Championship as seriously as the Africa Cup of Nations which Nigeria won in January in South Africa.

The Confederation of African Football on Wednesday drew Nigeria in Group A alongside hosts, South Africa, Mali and Mozambique. It will be Nigeria’s first appearance at the finals after failing to qualify for the first two editions.

“This is a fresh tournament, different from AFCON, and hosts, South Africa, will want to win,” Shorunmu told our correspondent on the telephone on Wednesday.

“I expect our opponents to be tough; we have no choice but to stand up to the challenge. Even though this is a different competition, our opponents will tackle us as African champions, irrespective of the fact that these players are home-based.

 “South Africa will want to play to appease their fans after failing at the Nations Cup, so we should be ready for a stiff challenge against Bafana Bafana. They have a good league and the players are rated high, but we also have all that.”

The former Nigeria goalkeeper admitted a big challenge awaits Nigeria coaches as they prepare to make selections for the championship.

He said, “I cannot say at this time which players will make it to the final selection. We have four months until the competition and anything can happen within that period. Some players in the domestic league may end up playing outside Nigeria before January, and that rules them out of the competition.

“Already, we’ve lost a very good defender (Godfrey Oboabona) to a foreign league and we’re yet to replace him in the team. We can’t talk about a replacement until camping resumes probably in December.

“Notwithstanding, we are working with the clubs so that they know what we’re looking for and where we’re going. It will be a big challenge (selecting players) but that’s our job; we’re ready for the challenge.”

The competition which is in its third edition will hold from Jan. 11 to Feb. 1.

Zimbabwe, Uganda, Burkina Faso and Morocco were drawn in Group B, while Group C has 2009 runners-up Ghana with Libya, Ethiopia and Congo. In Group D, DR Congo will also battle it out with Gabon, Burundi and Mauritania in the first round matches.

Tunisia beat Angola 3-0 to win the 2011 edition in Sudan, while DR Congo beat Ghana 2-0 to win the inaugural edition in Cote d’Ivoire.