Siasia Showers Praise On Ogude, Others

Fengor Ogude made his first start for Nigeria and put in a performance that coach Samson Siasia has  described as ‘awesome’.

Ogude was one of three players handed their first Super Eagles start by Siasia, and after a commendable first half performance in midfield, he was detailed to stay on Lionel Messi in the second half.

The Valerenga midfielder did such an excellent job that Messi was practically invisible for most of the second half.

Siasia, and his staff, were purring for the multi-talented player.

“Fengor was awesome, outstanding. Having been bringing him to camp all these days, we knew his potential, and he actually showed us how good he is. He’ll still improve, but he can only get better,” the coach said.

Another player who earned his stripes on his senior debut was Brown Ideye, whose excellent hold up and link-up play in the lone striker role had Siasia impressed.

“Brown did very well, I was surprised. he was very energetic. Kept the ball like he was supposed to, just as we discussed. He did very well, even though he didn’t get the opportunity to create a chance for himself to shoot at goal. The way he played, I was impressed. I think we have a lot of good strikers we can depend on.”

There were a few more performers in Chinedu Obasi and Emmanuel Ekpo, but Solomon Okoronkwo appears to have made it hard for the coach to justify picking him in the next squad.

“Obasi was wonderful. He’s a good player, but sometimes he has to be more purposeful in his dribbles because he does a little too much. If he cuts out the excess, he’ll be even better. But I was also very impressed with him.

“Ekpo also showed in the few minutes that he was on, that we will have a problem selecting midfielders for the team. He also impressed me. I have known him since the Olympics and I know what he can do. What he needs to do now is build his confidence and understand the way we want the team to play,” Siasia said.

“Solomon didn’t play a good game. I don’t know why he shut down. He was talking about how he had to fall back to help Chibuzor defend. Sometimes in a big game like this, you have to show yourself and he didn’t. But it wasn’t his day. He’s still a good player and this is just one game. I’m sure he’ll bounce back.”