Yobo sets record

Yobo

Super Eagles captain, Joseph Yobo, feels the blend of experience and youth will be to Nigeria’s advantage at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Fenerbahce defender will set a new record of six Africa Cup of Nations finals appearances if he is selected to face Burkina Faso on Monday while 17 of his fellow squad members have never played in a Nations Cup finals before.

Coach Stephen Keshi opted to flush out a number of players following the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2012 finals in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

And ahead of Nigeria’s opening match, Yobo said: “I believe in this team and the coaches. We have a lot of young players in the team and a few experienced ones, which tells you this is a good team.

“We started this journey slowly after we did not qualify for the last tournament. I have a lot of experience and we are not under pressure to come and win it, but as we progress our confidence will come.”

Burkina Faso coach Paul Put, meanwhile, says his side need to beat Nigeria to give themselves a chance of progressing in the tournament.

They have never been past the group stages apart from when they hosted the event, in 1998, where they finished fourth.

Put said: “We have to win this first match at all costs to give us confidence going forward. It is going to be tough but we are ready to play Nigeria.”