Seychelles’ national team coach, Gavin Jeanne has disclosed that his players are not under any form of pressure heading into their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Nigeria, hence his view that they will have fun against the Super Eagles.
As Saturday’s AFCON 2019 fixture in Victoria draws nearer, Jeanne is happy that his side are the underdogs, who will not need to impress against their star-studded visitors, which makes him sure the hosts would be able to pull off a huge shock in the game.
Nigeria will be chasing victory, having lost their first match of the series 2-0 at home to South Africa, which makes the game on Saturday more precarious for Gernot Rohr’s men, who also need redemption from their recent World Cup disappointments.
All those and indices that make Jeanne assured on an upset on Saturday, as Nigeria and Seychelles lost their opening qualifier to South Africa and Libya, respectively.
Nigeria are ranked 47th best team in Africa, have played at six World Cups and won three AFCON competitions, while island-nation Seychelles who are rated 188th in the world, but Jeanne says he is not shedding any sweat over his team’s chances against the Eagles.
The Pirates’ coach, who was hired in March after working with his country’s under-17 team, further said he is happy that the Eagles have shown his side some respect by taking their top stars from Europe for Saturday’s AFCON 2019 qualifier.
“We want to get the biggest shock in Africa. We don’t have as much talent as Nigeria have, we’re amateurs, but we will try to get a result from this game.
“We have nothing to lose, we want to have fun against the best team in Africa. By coming down with their World Cup stars, they have already shown us respect.
“We know it will be a difficult game for us, a battle between the biggest country in Africa and the smallest,” Jeanne concluded.
