The Belgian has stated that it will take a miracle for the Flames to defeat the more established Super Eagles in Calabar but they are willing to take their chances
Malawi technical adviser Tom Saintfiet has said his team will go into Saturday's 2014 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria as underdogs.
The Belgian also declared that his team will expect a miracle to happen in order to beat the African champions.
Saintfiet spoke to the media at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja as his team boarded their Arik Air flight to Calabar on Thursday afternoon.
The flight was however delayed for almost two hours due to visibility problems.
"I am very satisfied with my squad,” Saintfiet said. “The present team is full of young players who are ready to play in the tactical way we want them to play. Every team needs a bit of luck. The team is ready to play and I think we can recover from the flight in the next 48 hours.
"The match against the Super Eagles is not do or die affair for us. We have prepared well for this match and have an equal chance of winning the game. I believe the pressure is on Nigeria. But we will try and surprise everybody by playing a great game against Nigeria on Saturday.
"Nigeria are the champions of Africa. They are a very strong squad selected by coach Stephen Keshi. He selected a very strong team comprising of good players from Europe and local based players too. It is going to be very difficult for us. The Nigerian team has a lot of strength and quality in front of goal and are very good in the air and they can score from set pieces too.
"Despite this, the Nigerian team also has some weaknesses and we are going to use that against them,” Saintfiet disclosed.
The Belgian also declared that his team will expect a miracle to happen in order to beat the African champions.
Saintfiet spoke to the media at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja as his team boarded their Arik Air flight to Calabar on Thursday afternoon.
The flight was however delayed for almost two hours due to visibility problems.
"I am very satisfied with my squad,” Saintfiet said. “The present team is full of young players who are ready to play in the tactical way we want them to play. Every team needs a bit of luck. The team is ready to play and I think we can recover from the flight in the next 48 hours.
"The match against the Super Eagles is not do or die affair for us. We have prepared well for this match and have an equal chance of winning the game. I believe the pressure is on Nigeria. But we will try and surprise everybody by playing a great game against Nigeria on Saturday.
"Nigeria are the champions of Africa. They are a very strong squad selected by coach Stephen Keshi. He selected a very strong team comprising of good players from Europe and local based players too. It is going to be very difficult for us. The Nigerian team has a lot of strength and quality in front of goal and are very good in the air and they can score from set pieces too.
"Despite this, the Nigerian team also has some weaknesses and we are going to use that against them,” Saintfiet disclosed.
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