Confident Stanley Nwabali eyes World Cup return for Nigeria

Coached by Eric Chelle, Nigeria narrowly missed out on automatic qualification after being edged by Bafana Bafana in Group C.

They now face Gabon in the semi-finals of the play-offs, while Cameroon meet DR Congo in the other fixture.

The overall winner will advance to the inter-continental play-offs in March to compete for the remaining two World Cup spots with other Confederations.

"We, as Nigerians, feel that this play-off tournament is like a second chance for us. Towards the end of our World Cup qualification campaign, we were building and getting better results."

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Nwabali adds that the squad is shutting out the noise from authorities over their failure to secure direct World Cup qualification.

The Super Eagles will, however, be at next month’s AFCON in Morocco, and Nwabali was asked his views on facing Uganda, Tunisia, and Tanzania.

"African football has developed so much. You cannot afford to look past any team. I do foresee a fight in the group, but we expect to progress to the next stage."

The Chippa United shot stopper admits the pain of losing to Cote d’Ivoire in the previous edition was still haunting Nigeria.