Our Boys Need Cheers, Not Boss – Ogunjobi

Nigeria Football Federation NFF board member and Chairman of the Abuja Sub-seat of the Local Organizing Committee for FIFA Under-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009, Taiwo Ogunjobi has said that fans should cheer the Nigeria U-17 team players and not resort to booing them.

“These are young stars who need to be encouraged, who need to be egged on by their own people instead, we saw a situation in which the spectatos were booing their own team against Germany in their first group A match.

“This is not good. The boys are representing the country and need our collective support. I was an international player myself and I know how it can feel when a sports person is humiliated with boos from the same people who are supposed to cheer him or her on”, said Ogunjobi, a member of the Green Eagles squad that won silver medal at the 1984 African Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.

Nigeria’s youngsters were distracted by catcalls and jeers from their own people after going down by three goals against Germany 47 minutes into their game last Saturday, before staging a magnificent recovery to earn a point in a 3-3 draw. They also beat Honduras 1-0 in their second match.