Lagos, Nigeria - Nigeria's skipper Joseph Yobo is optimistic that the Super Eagles will still qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, despite the team's failure to beat Ethiopia in Addis Ababa last Sunday. The fourth round qualifying match ended 2-2, reducing Nigeria's chances of picking the group B ticket. Guinea leads the group with 10 points, after an emphatic 4-1 win in Madagascar, while Nigeria is three points behind. “We went there for a win but the Ethiopians were also very determined to achieve the same feat. There were logistic issues here and there especially the bad pitch but more importantly we are still in the race,' said Yobo, who scored the last equaliser for the Eagles.

“Our fate is still in our hands if we can win our last two games well. That is the situation we find ourselves and we are up to the task to win the ticket. It is going to be tough but we will do it,” he said.

Nigeria will have to win its last two games - away in Madagascar and at home against Guinea - to have any chance of qualifying.

The teams that finish top of the various 10 groups, plus the runner-up in group 11 (which has five teams), as well as the two best runners up from the other groups with four teams each, will qualify for the finals.

So far, four teams have qualified - Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, which qualified automatically as co-hosts, as well as Botswana and Cote d'Ivoire.

Pana 07/06/2011