Uyo Residents Hopeful Of Super Eagles Routing Bafana Bafana At Ibom Stadium.

Original post by NAN

Residents of Uyo in Akwa Ibom on Tuesday expressed optimism that Super Eagles would defeat Bafana Bafana of South Africa to qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team will on Wednesday clash with the visiting South African team at the Akwa Ibom International Stadium, Uyo in their last AFCON qualifier.

The fans said they were hopeful that the match being their last group AFCON qualifier was a must-win for the the team to put the African champions in a better position to make the finals.

A resident, Coach Aniedi Dickson, who is the Director of Sports, Akwa Ibom, said the Eagles must win their first competitive match at the new stadium to gladden hearts of residents.

He said that since the stadium had received a lot of accolades from Nigerians and the international community the Super Eagles must not fail to defeat the South African team.

“Apart from being a Nigerian, I played football at a professional level and I have always said that the Super Eagles must win Bafana Bafana the same way they defeated the Red Devils of Congo last weekend.

“People did not agree with me but you saw what happened in the match with the Congo boys. I am today saying that our boys must beat the South Africans and it will happen again,” he said.

Recalling how the home-based Super Eagles defeated the Ghanaian team on the day the new stadium was commissioned, Dickson said that the Eagles would repeat the feat.

He alleged that the crisis that bedevilled the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) was also a major factor that affected team spirit in the matches the Eagles did not do well in.

Dickson said that he was full of joy that the state had suddenly become attractive to sport tourism because of the magnificent stadium built Gov. Godswill Akpabio’s administration.

Dickson, who commended Akpabio for the gesture, also assured that Nigerians that the governor would ensure that other facilities currently not in place would be built.

He noted that the Indoor Sports Hall was not part of the first phase of the stadium’s construction but said he was sure that it would built in the second phase.

Also speaking, a former Special Assistant to the governor on Youth Development, Mr Emmanuel Ekpenyong, said that youths were already celebrating the Super Eagles’ victory ahead of the match.

Ekpenyong said that Uyo residents known for peace would be in a celebration mood on Wednesday because the match was as good as won.

Another resident, Mrs Alice Uwa, who deals on provisions by the stadium, told NAN that she had stocked her shop with snacks and drinks that were usually in high demand on match days.

Uwa said she was optimistic that Nigeria will win the match because she had been praying for the team. (NAN)