Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has outlined his major objectives for Nigeria ahead of the 2026 Unity Cup tournament in London, stressing the importance of giving players the opportunity to prove themselves while maintaining a winning mentality.
Nigeria began preparations for the four-nation invitational tournament on Saturday, with 14 players arriving in camp ahead of Tuesday’s semifinal clash against Zimbabwe at The Valley, London.
The squad has since grown with the arrival of more invited players as the team intensified preparations for the encounter, with the coaching crew focusing on tactical drills and fitness sessions.
Speaking during a press conference ahead of the game, Chelle explained that the tournament would serve as an important platform to assess both new and returning players within the national team setup.
“I have a goal and objective for this tournament. This first objective is giving an opportunity to show what we can do and show with our team,” Chelle said.
"We have some new and former players. I want to give them a chance to show something. This is our main goal. We have some seven players in the league and we have some players playing in Europa but the reality is when you watch the stats they need to play.”
The Malian tactician also emphasized that despite the experimental nature of the tournament, the Super Eagles remain focused on winning matches and defending the title.
“The first opportunity is to give an opportunity, the second objective of course, when you play, you want to win,” he added.
“We are not on holiday, we work, we have two training sessions yesterday and the day before and of course we do everything to win the big game against Zimbabwe.”
A victory against Zimbabwe would see Nigeria advance to the final, where they will face the winner of the other semifinal clash between India and Jamaica.
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