APA - Lagos (Nigeria) With the announcement of the draws for the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) to be hosted by Angola in January 2010, Nigerian football administrators and football lovers are calling for early preparations for the tournament.

A former Super Eagles coach, Paul Hamilton, said here that Nigeria’s performance in the Africa Cup of Nations would depend on the team’s preparations for the competition.

"The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) should ensure that preparations begin in earnest for the Super Eagles to make appreciable impact in Angola next January,’’ Hamilton said in his reaction to the draws made in Angola on Friday.

According to the draws, the defending champions, Egypt will face Nigeria, Mozambique and Benin Republic in the first round of the tournament, which holds from 10 to 31 January.

Hamilton described the group as `exciting’, and expressed confidence that the team would qualify for the knockout stage in Angola.

In his reaction, a former African Footballer of the Year, Victor Ikpeba, called for the injection of a few players into the team and warned against a complete overhaul of the team.

Ikpeba, fondly called `Prince of Monaco’, said the team needed to be fortified in some areas.

"NFF should guard against a repeat of 2002 where a fresh team was raised after the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations in Mali.

"Of course, we (Nigeria) paid dearly for it in Korea/Japan 2002 when the Super Eagles performed dismally,’’ Ikpeba said

He said with adequate preparations, Nigeria would be the team to beat in Angola.

"Egypt are the defending champions while Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony would want to prove that they are better than the Angolans in football.

"They are a team to watch while the level of football has also improved tremendously in the Republic of Benin,’’ Ikpeba said.

A former Eagles defender, Yisa Shofoluwe, in his reaction, urged the technical crew to fortify the team with some players from the 2008 Beijing Olympics Silver medal winning team.

Shofoluwe called for top-grade friendly matches as part of the team’s build-up to the championship.