*We must keep winning, says Iheanacho

By John Egbokhan

Watford forward, Odion Ighalo has said Eagles must forget the hurt and disappointment of failing to qualify for the next Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and give everything they have if they are to stand any chance of progressing to the 2018 FIFA World Cup holding in Russia.

Nigerians are still coming to terms with the reality that the three-time African champions would for the second successive time be missing out on the biggest sporting spectacle on the continent.

Odion Ighalo

As other teams like Egypt and Cameroon attempt to seal their places in Gabon 2017, Eagles have looking forward to June 24 to know their opponents in the third round of the African qualifiers for Russia 2018 when then the draws are made in the CAF headquarters in Cairo,

Eagles got into the third round after defeating Swaziland 2-0 on aggregate

Top African sides like Ghana, Cote dl’voire, Algeria, Egypt and Cameroon are among 20 countries that made it to the last round.

With five countries set to represent Africa in Russia 2018, Eagles know the road to the next World Cup would not be easy and speaking during the week, Ighalo, who scored in Nigeria’s 3-1 victory against Luxembourg in an international friendly expressed optimism that Eagles will beat all odds to book their passage to the World Cup.

Speaking in a video message on his official twitter handle, Ighalo, who netted 17 goals in 42 appearance for Watford in all competitions last season said “we are disappointed that we would not be going for the Nations Cup and want to take our next matches seriously. We are building a new team for Nigeria who will be able to stand the test of time in the World Cup qualifying campaign later this year.

“We want to start building from now on and give everything we have so that we can get what we want in future and by God’s grace qualify for the World Cup. And we must play together as a team and keep hoping for the best”, added Ighalo.

Meanwhile, Manchester City striker, Kelechi Iheanacho, who scored two goals during the recent international friendlies against Mali and Luxembourg has said the only way Eagles can guarantee their place in the Russia 2018 World Cup is to keep winning their games.

The 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup champion has made four appearances for the Eagles since marking his senior debut in 2015 but only broke his duck last Friday during the game with Mali in Rouem, France.

Iheanacho, while writing in a post on his twitter handle urged his teammates to sustain the winning run when the World Cup race resumes.

“We need to sustain the great team performance and keep winning”, wrote Iheanacho.