Sports
Ali Blames Poor Nations’ Cup Outing On Shoddy Preparations
The goalkeeper of the national team, to the just concluded 3rd Amputee African Cup of Nations in Ghana, Bright Ali, has blamed the team’s poor outing on inadequate preparations.
Ali made this known in an interview with the Tidesports on Monday in Lagos on arrival from Accra.
He said that the camping period they had for the tournament was not enough for a competition of the magnitude of the African Cup of Nations.
He bemoaned the inadequate feeding arrangement they had to endure in camp and the lack of support from sponsors during their preparation, which he said impacted negatively on the team’s psyche.
“We don’t have supporters, if we had government support we will be training morning and evening, so that we will get fit like the other teams – like Ghana and Liberia. They are physically fit,’’.
The goalkeeper attributed the poor feeding arrangement of the team to lack of funds.
According to him, that made many of the players to supplement their feeding from their homes.
He complained about the shoddy travelling arrangement the team had to endure.
The team, comprising 22 people, was compelled to travel in a small 18-seater bus.
Such cramped condition, according to the goalkeeper, affected the players’ physical well-being.
He, therefore, urged the country’s sports administrators to make early and proper arrangements for future competitions.
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.