Liverpool and Senegal forward Sadio Mane says a lot of African teams know about the dangers in facing the senior national team of Nigeria.
The forward was speaking in a English Premier League programme watched by Owngoalnigeria.com and was asked about the chances of an African nation going all the way to the final of the next World Cup.
Mane who was a losing finalist at the last African Cup of Nations with Senegal against Algeria said there is a current rise of new super power in Africa but picked Nigeria as the one team many teams dread on the continent.
“ At the last AFCON we were unlucky to lose in the final. In Africa we have new teams springing up to challenge the dominant ones. It’s a trend that I have observed the past few years and it shows that football is growing in the region.
“ Many teams know the giants and Nigeria plays in a rather different way most times and many will tell you that meeting them isn’t the best thing but if the need arises you can’t run away from it “, he said.
He also picked Côte d’Ivoire and the countries from North Africa as giants that many want to avoid because of how organized they are backed up with the quality of players in their team.
