By John Egbokhan
The mind games are already being played before the kickoff of the 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifier between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and the Syli Stars of Guinea on October 8 at the Abuja National Stadium.

Guinea top the group with 13 points, three more than the Nigerians, who need an outright win to seal the lone qualification ticket to play at the tournament, to be co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

The match has been fixed for 2pm by the Confederation of African Football, a decision which at the weekend, drew the ire of Eagles coach, Samson Siasia, who said that the hot conditions, was going to be too harsh for his players to play under.

But yesterday,, the Secretary-General of the Guinea Football Federation, Ibrahima Barry Blasco, countered the position of Nigeria, stating that the time was good for football. Blasco, speaking at a press conference held in Bangui and monitored by guineenews, said that as Africans, playing under intense sun was nothing unusual.

“We have received CAF’s notification and we are okay with the 2pm kickoff for the match. We are Africans, and our players can play under any conditions”, he said.

He also noted that the federation had gotten approval from the government to charter an aircraft to fly the players direct to Abuja for the game. He added that they were going to enter Abuja late, to thwart any plan by the Nigerians to threat them shabbily.

Also speaking, Guinea Coach, Michel Dussuyer, played up yet another mind game, when he stated that the Eagles were under pressure to win the game in Abuja. He said that though his team had not yet qualified for the tournament, that they were not going to be any undue pressure.

“Our destiny is in our hands. The only event that our fate might escape us is that we are not effective against Nigeria and Madagascar finished third in the group Nigeria are the ones under pressure to win. We are just coming to Abuja to play our normal game”, said the French-born coach.