Before the Nigeria , Guinea Bissau match , most people believed that the match scheduled for the beautiful National Stadium in Abidjan will be a walk over
Guinea Bissau was the whipping boys of the group.
They lost to Equatorial Guinea and host Cote d'ivoire
Getting the maximum points against giant killers Nigeria would be a tall dream
The Guinea Bissau team , Mozambique team were lodged in the same hotel with me at the five star Novotel Hotel in Plateau , a highbrow area of Abidjan
So we usually exchanged pleasanteries whenever we met at the lobby of the hotel or during breakfast and dinner
But of interest to me were the Guinea Bissau team , most of their players were very young and they interacted very easily
No " big boys " , they were not a star studded team like Super Eagles
You can also walk up to any of them within the lobby and talk freely ( Something you cannot easily do with our Super Eagles)
After the Nigeria vs Guinea Bissau match which they gallantly lost 1..0 , i sat down with two of them for a brief chat
I asked what they think of Nigeria as a country
" Ahhh , Nigeria is a big country unlike our country , you're the biggest in Africa, we learnt you are also very rich
Most African people wish they are Nigerians.
You have many intellectuals across the world
In Sports , you are also a giant "
I asked them who by their estimation is the biggest player to have come out of Nigeria , they chorused " Okocha "
I said really
Yes , Okocha is a total player one of them said , he is out of this world , he can do so many things with football that most players cannot do.
He is in the same class with Messi and Ronaldo, he is also one of the best to have come out of Africa
One of them said his dream is to meet , Jay Jay Okocha and Nwankwo Kanu one day
I asked them to rate the current Super Eagles team at AFCON
They were of the opinion that the Nigerian team is good with their array of stars , we believe they'll go far in the tournament, but they are not playing like a team , more of individual talents
We were scared playing with them but when we eventually did , we were surprised that we played even better than them, unbelievable although we lost the game
We were expecting a wider goal margin
As we wrap up the conversation, they said they'll like to visit Nigeria one day
It'll be good to visit Nigeria one day , we've read and heard so much about your country that we will like to visit
But also heard a lot of insecurity there these days , we ll consider sometime when the situation improves in your country
On that note , i had to let them go since their colleagues were waiting for them to go on a tour of the city
Chris Kehinde Nwandu is a Journalist, UK Certified Arbitrator And Law Graduate
He Was Sponsored To AFCON By Itel Mobile , Nigeria's foremost Mobile Phone Company