Rwandan German tactician Torsten Spittler said that his team’s shock 2-1 win over the Super Eagles in Uyo will be a massive boost in confidence when they host Nigeria in next year’s 2026 World Cup qualifier in Kigali.
Group C leaders, Rwanda will welcome the Super Eagles in March 2015 when the 2026 World Cup qualifiers resumes.
The Amavubis lead the Group with seven points from four matches, while Nigeria have four points, sitting second from bottom.
Speaking after the AFCON qualifiers in Uyo, the coach explained that his players are now convinced that no team is unbeatable and they’ll be going into the world cup qualifiers with that mentality.
“My players now have reason to believe in themselves and to also know that no team is unbeatable ” You know that Nigeria is ranked 36th by FIFA while we’re 126th, about 100 positions difference, but with this result, my players’ confidence level have increased”, said Spittler
“The result is great for our self-confidence, but still you have to play the matches and win and that’s what we’ll do.
“I’m very proud of this team and their performance because it’s not often easy to beat a star studded team like Nigeria on their home ground and I’m sure everyone back home in Rwanda is happy with the result
The German coach said he believes the Super Eagles were not ready to play the match because they have already qualified for the AFCON.
“They didn’t know whether they were playing a friendly match or whatever because they had already qualified,” he said.
“They didn’t want to play, that’s one of the reasons we got the three points.
“They usually play 3-4-3, but they changed the system, this was a surprise, but we handled the situation well.
“I told my players that they should not let them enjoy the evening and you could see from their faces that they didn’t enjoy it and I promise them they’ll not enjoy it when they visit Kigali next year”, he boasted.
