Sports
…Urge Understanding With Siasia
Football enthusiasts in the FCT want Nigerians to be patient with Super Eagles Coach, Samson Siasia, in his present task of rebuilding a formidable team.
Speaking on Super Eagles’ clash with the Leone Stars in a friendly encounter at Teslern Balogun Stadium, Lagos on Wednesday, some of the enthusiasts said that Siasia should not be judged by the outcome of the encounter.
The Super Eagles were earlier scheduled to take on the national team of Guatemala on January 9 in the United States before the latter were replaced by the Sierra Leonean national team.
While Mr. Akinwunmi Kole-Dawodu, a football enthusiast in FCT implored Nigerians to give the coach some time to build a formidable side, Mr. Iyene Ibanga, also a football enthusiast said that the match against the Leone Stars should be seen as a rebuilding process.
They both agreed that the Super Eagles team is passing through a phase that will take some time to achieve the desired result.
“I wouldn’t want us to judge Siasia with this first game. No, we shouldn’t do that, it will not be fair if you are doing that,” Kole-Dawodu said.
“So let’s see. Let’s give him some time, when we will be playing the qualifying matches for this 2012 Nations Cup, then we can start judging him from that, but now let’s see how it goes.
Ibanga on the other said: “I just want Nigerians to know that the match is not about winning. I think it’s all about discovering the strengths and weaknesses in the team so as to work on them.’’
Kole-Dawodu also said that Siasia was capable of turning the team around adding that the Sierra Leoneans were strong enough to give the team a good challenge.
Mr. Muhyideen Jimoh, also football lover in Abuja said that he expected a lot from the new Super Eagles under Siasia.
He added that though the Sierra Leoneans were capable of defeating the Super Eagles, he was confident that Nigerians would see a good team under Siasia.
Mr. Yahaya Isah, a football enthusiast, said he expected Nigeria to win the game.
He added that though the team lost in its last competitive match, the appointment of Siasia would have a positive effect on the team.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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