France World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit has written off the Super Eagles of Nigeria as title contenders heading into the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Speaking on the tournament which begins on the 21 of December in Morocco, the midfielder who was a part of the 1998 World Cup winning squad of France picked his favourite, and dark horse for the tournament.
Petit didn’t mention the Nigerian team as favorites, rather went for the host and gave his reasons citing the current Africa Player of the year Achraf Hakimi as a huge factor.
“Who are my favourites to win the Africa Cup of Nations? I would have to say Morocco because of the players they have, and they are playing at home. In Morocco, we have seen some social troubles in the streets two months ago. The fight was not far away,” Petit told Snabbare.
“We know that football can be very powerful in society to calm down the young generation. The African Player of the Year was Achraf Hakimi. The whole competition would be in Morocco. We all know the money and the expectation from the King of Morocco.”
He picked South Africa as the dark horse of the tournament owing to the manner which they made it to the world cup, despite having Africa football giants Nigeria in their group.
“That being said, you can’t rule out South Africa either after qualifying for the World Cup. Bafana Bafana are underdogs to go all the way at the Africa Cup of Nations.”
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
