Akpala: Confed Cup with "Super Eagles"

Werder striker Joseph Akpala is taking part in the World Cup 2014 warm-up tournament with Nigeria starting on Saturday.
First Team
Thursday, 13.06.2013 / 13:36

The Nigerian national team qualified for the FIFA Confederations Cup for the second time after 1995 and will be playing at the 2013 edition in Brazil starting on Saturday. Coach Stephen Keshi's Nigeria beat Burkina Faso 1-0 in...

The Nigerian national team qualified for the FIFA Confederations Cup for the second time after 1995 and will be playing at the 2013 edition in Brazil starting on Saturday. Coach Stephen Keshi's Nigeria beat Burkina Faso 1-0 in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in February. Werder striker Joseph Akpala was not on hand in the African final but he will be in attack for the Super Eagles in the warm-up tournament to the 2014 World Cup, which begins on Saturday.

Akpala and company can look forward to some interesting showdowns as Group B is topped by world and European champions Spain and also includes Uruguay and Oceania champions Tahiti, against whom Nigeria will start the tournament on Monday in Belo Horizonte (kick-off 9 p.m. Bremen time, live on Sport1). Should Nigeria reach at least second place in the group, they could face off against either hosts Brazil or European runners-up Italy in the semi-finals.

Keshi's team, made up mainly of European players, is well prepared for the tournament. On Wednesday, Nigeria defended their first place ahead of Malawi in their World Cup 2014 qualifying group with a 1-1 draw in Windhoek against Namibia. Akpala sat 90 minutes on the bench. Nigeria lead the group with nine points heading into their showdown with Malawi (seven points) on September 6. A draw would be enough for Nigeria to qualify for the World Cup.

But Nigeria would like to play as well as possible at the Confed Cup. "We want to give our best to show African football in a good light," said Kesh on the official African federation's website.

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