Super Eagles captain Wilfred Ndidi, on Friday, said it would be a “great achievement” for Nigeria to win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after more than a decade since the country last won the continental title in South Africa.

Ndidi disclosed this during the pre-match press conference ahead of the crucial Group C clash against Tunisia on Saturday. He, however, admitted the current squad is still new and that the team must focus on development.

“It would be a great achievement for us. None of the guys were part of the team that won Nigeria’s last AFCON, but it is about growth, the new generation, and we are here to set our own standards and achieve our goals,” the former Leicester City man said.

Answering questions from journalists about the players’ readiness for the game against Tunisia, Ndidi said the players are in very high spirits, noting that the team is ready for the match.
“The team spirit is high after the first game.

Although there should be some improvement and we need to pick up from the last game, the team spirit is still very high going into the next game, and we are ready,” he stated.

Reminiscing on the shocking round of 16 loss to Tunisia at the 2019 AFCON in Cameroon, the 29-year-old admitted that it was a painful defeat. He added that the team has spoken about it and would not allow history to repeat itself on Saturday.

“It was a painful loss in 2019, but it gives us confidence ahead of tomorrow’s game. The guys are prepared for it. We don’t want to think about what happened because it is definitely a new team, but we spoke about it so that it is not going to happen twice,” the Besiktas midfielder said.

On social media criticism affecting the team, Ndidi maintained that “there would always be negative comments on social media. But it is not affecting the group.

“We are here to play football, we know what we want to achieve, so our main focus is the tournament and achieving great things here. Whatever comes out of social media is people’s opinions.”