Sports
Siasia Threatens To Quit …Apologises To L / Stars Coach
Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia has been quoted as saying he will quit if the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) insist on taking Nigeria’s 2012 African Nations Cup qualifier against Ethiopia to Kaduna.
That game was originally scheduled to take place in Lagos, but a series of hiccups at last Wednesday’s international friendly against Sierra Leone prompted a rethink.
NFF Executive Committee member Christopher Green stated that the game would be played in Kaduna, forcing Siasia to say he would dig his heels in.
According to the former international, Kaduna had never been in his programme and nobody had ever discussed that with him.
“No one can push me around on that, it is either Abuja or nothing else,” Siasia is quoted as saying.
“I have never seen the Ahmadu Bello Stadium before and would never take my team to play there.”
Siasia appears to be upset that the issue was not discussed with him before being made public.
Meanwhile, Siasia has apologised to Sierra Leone Coach, Christian Cole over remarks he made at the post match conference after the Super Eagles 2-1 win last Wednesday.
Siasia had light-heartedly referred to Cole as a ‘comedian coach’, a remark that did not go down well with the visitors, and the former international says he was only joking the same way the Sierra Leonean was trading banters with newsmen.
“Truly I was only joking during the press conference. Christian Cole is an amiable and very interesting person. He made everybody happy at the interview session and we all enjoyed him. When he claimed that his team could beat Eagles on a neutral ground, I jokingly said what has now become media hype.
“I can never disrespect him at all. I was only trying to joke like he did. He was very funny during the chat with the press. I am very sorry if he took it that way.
“For him to lead his team to play against us in such a very short time speaks volumes of his love for our team and our country. Such person should be highly regarded not disrespected him.
“Once again, I am sorry if he took it that way,” Siasia said.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.
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