Remo Stars coach Daniel Ogunmodede has admitted that the postponement of the 2024 African Nations Championship affected the Super Eagles B psychologically, forcing them to end their camping for the tournament on Tuesday.
The 2024 CHAN was scheduled to be held in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda from February 1 to 28, but the Confederation of African Football postponed the tournament till August but conducted the draws on Wednesday.
Ogunmodede and his Rangers International counterpart, Fidelis Ilechukwu have been in charge of the team through the qualifiers before welcoming new national team handler Eric Chelle to the team’s camp on Tuesday.
Chelle was mandated by the NFF to supervise the team while Ogunmodede and the rest of the crew took care of the tournament but all that was disrupted after about two weeks of camping.
“We felt disappointed and it was evident in the reaction of the match we played on Wednesday,” Ogunmodede said via 54FootballX.
“Everyone was not happy considering the amount of work we had put in. Imagine during the festive period, we couldn’t even go and be with our families.
Nevertheless, we keep our focus. We can’t control the postponement, it is not our fault.”
The Super Eagles B have been drawn into a tricky group for the August tournament, as they will play defending champions Senegal, Sudan and the Republic of Congo in Group D.
While it remains to be seen how the technical crew and players will regroup for the assignment later in the year, Ogunmodede has said there will be no automatic spot for the players come August.
“Our major job is to continue to prepare ourselves like I told the players, they have to stay consistent and keep the same ideology because coming back here is not automatic,” the coach said.
