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football fans in Nigeria have expressed confidence in the Nigerian Super Eagles but label them as ‘late bloomers’ who always leave it late before getting the desired result.
They aired their opinions in separate interviews last week.
Football teams across the continent, including the Nigerian Super Eagles are presently engaged in a series of qualifiers for a slot at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) competition to be held in Morocco.
The Super Eagles, who are grouped in Group A with South Africa, Congo and Sudan, beat the Sudanese 3 goals to 1 to climb to third position on the log with four points.
Former Commissioner for Youth and Sports, in Nasarawa State  Mr Godwin Mbatav,  said he was optimistic the Super Eagles would win their remaining matches.
He, however, frowned at the manner in which the national side often achieve its desired results.
“The Super Eagles will make it. You saw what they played in Abuja against Sudan. You know they normally wake up at the last minute.
“That is what we are facing in the country right now. We are always used to blooming late, that is the problem.
“You will notice that, at the beginning, they won’t give the competition the seriousness it deserves until when it gets to a situation when they have to win at all costs, then they wake up.
Special Adviser to Governor Umaru Al-Makura on Youth and Sports Development, Mr Silas Agara  also expressed confidence in the Eagles.
Agara, however, blamed the football authorities and management of the team for the current situation the Eagles find themselves.
“If we can beat Congo and South Africa, we will qualify, but honestly, I am not happy with the way we do things in the country.
“At this stage, we should have qualified and be using the remaining games as friendlies for our boys but that is not the case.
“Honestly, I blame those handling the boys for the situation we are in. but I have not written the team off in as much as we are coming up late.
“I have not written the team off yet. But, we need to stop this tradition of having the knife on our neck before performing,” he said.
Public Relations Officer of Nasarawa Amazons Football Club, Alhaji Salisu Adamu,  expressed disappointment in the Super Eagles inability to demoralise their opponents with early goals.
Adamu, however, expressed confidence that they would qualify for the AFCON 2015.
“The Super Eagles are supposed to go for early goals so as to demoralise their opponents. Look at what happened in Namibia with our girls.
“Almost three minutes, they scored three goals. If they act like that, no matter how strong their opponents are, they will be demoralised.
“See what happened yesterday, because, after the Sudanese equalised, they began to grow in confidence.
“But if we had scored early goals, they would have lost confidence even before the start of the second half.
Lafia resident, Miss Taiwo Ojetaye,  said it would take a miracle for the national team side to qualify for the AFCON tournament, blaming the situation on poor preparation and bad start.
“We started very poorly and now it has affected us seriously. If we don’t win our remaining games, I seriously doubt we will make it.
“Now we are left to be playing with very serious pressure on us. All our remaining matches must be won.” she said.
a football enthusiast in Lafia, Mr Abdul Ahmed,  queried the attitude of the team and called for its total reshuffle for optimal results.