{"id":820274,"date":"2025-01-16T08:12:14","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T14:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/16\/eric-chelle-appointment-weve-failed-if-we-dont-qualify-for-the-world-cup-ex-super-eagles-star\/"},"modified":"2025-01-16T08:12:14","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T14:12:14","slug":"eric-chelle-appointment-weve-failed-if-we-dont-qualify-for-the-world-cup-ex-super-eagles-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/16\/eric-chelle-appointment-weve-failed-if-we-dont-qualify-for-the-world-cup-ex-super-eagles-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Chelle appointment: We\u2019ve failed if we don\u2019t qualify for the World Cup \u2013 ex-Super Eagles star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Former Super Eagles midfielder, Sylvanus Okpala, has expressed his concerns following the appointment of Eric Chelle as the head coach of the Nigerian national team, <a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Soccernet.ng<\/a> reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The former Lens defender <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/thenff\/status\/1878791041182310635\" target=\"_blank\">was recently unveiled as the new boss of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations champions<\/a> by the Nigeria Football Federation.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029VagMHLcA89MZvw0Btc21\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><strong>Get Our Sports News First \u2013 Join Our WhatsApp Channel Now!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This has been well perceived by the Nigerian football community, as well as the former Enugu Rangers midfielder, who has also weighed in on his appointment.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_147357\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-147357\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/2025\/01\/eric-chelle-appointment-weve-failed-if-we-dont-qualify-for-the-world-cup-ex-super-eagles-sta.html\/sylvanus-okpaladavid-ngodighaokey-isima\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-147357\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Sylvanus-OkpalaDavid-NgodighaOkey-Isima.jpeg\" alt=\"Soccer Sylvanus Okpala,David Ngodigha,Okey Isima\" width=\"798\" height=\"504\"  ><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-147357\">Sylvanus Okpala,David Ngodigha,Okey Isima [Photo credit\/X]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The ex-international emphasised the importance of 2026 World Cup qualification for Nigerian football, and that missing the tournament again would be a huge failure.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe point is that if we don\u2019t qualify for the World Cup, we have failed,\u201d he told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brila.net\/no-excuses-okpala-warns-chelle-to-deliver-world-cup-ticket\/#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brila FM<\/a> \u201cNFF has every right if that\u2019s the coach they want, but he has to qualify us for the World Cup. If he doesn\u2019t do that, he has failed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Super Eagles missed out on the 2022 FIFA World Cup after losing to Ghana on the away goals rule, and a second consecutive absence from the global stage would undoubtedly be devastating.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cNigeria cannot afford not to go to the World Cup for the second time. It will be very disastrous for Nigerian football. It\u2019s becoming difficult, but it is not impossible; there is still room with six games left,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Chelle, Who was recently appointed by the NFF, faces the tough task of winning the remaining qualification games to ensure Nigeria\u2019s spot in the event co-hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NGSuperEagles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@NGSuperEagles<\/a> have a new coach.<\/p>\n<p>Eric Sekou Chelle is the new coach of the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SuperEagles?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#SuperEagles<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A new dawn is here. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/RwYGpm74ji\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/RwYGpm74ji<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The NFF (@thenff) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thenff\/status\/1878791041182310635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 13, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The outspoken former player also urged the NFF to hold themselves accountable for their decisions and not to use Chelle\u2019s mid-qualifier appointment as an excuse for failure.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cSo later, they shouldn\u2019t come with the excuse that things had already gone wrong before his appointment because they would have waited until after the qualifiers to appoint him,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>With six games left in the qualification process, the pressure is mounting on Chelle and the Super Eagles to deliver the expected results.<\/p>\n<p>Chelle\u2019s first task will be a must-win clash against Zimbabwe and Rwanda, where all eyes will be on him and his troops for victory.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Soccer Ayomide Oguntimehin\" src=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ayomide-Oguntimehin-pics-150x150.jpg\"  height=\"80\" width=\"80\">\t\t<\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/author\/ayomide-oguntimehin-2\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin is a CAF-accredited sports journalist and Editor at Soccernet.ng, with a proven track record in conducting interviews with Super Eagles stars such as William Troost-Ekong, Taiwo Awoniyi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Ademola Lookman, and many others. He has also made a significant impact in breaking transfer news stories.<\/p>\n<p>Grounded in video editing, video journalism, social media management, and content strategy, Ayomide brings a wealth of expertise to his work.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/2025\/01\/eric-chelle-appointment-weve-failed-if-we-dont-qualify-for-the-world-cup-ex-super-eagles-sta.html\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Ayomide Oguntimehin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer Former Super Eagles midfielder, Sylvanus Okpala, has expressed his concerns following the appointment of Eric Chelle as the head coach of the Nigerian national team, Soccernet.ng reports. The former Lens defender was recently unveiled as the new boss of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations champions by the Nigeria Football Federation. Get Our Sports [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":820275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42928,140853,2005],"tags":[5526,140851],"class_list":{"0":"post-820274","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-appointment","8":"category-chelle","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-appointment","11":"tag-chelle"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=820274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=820274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=820274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}