Thursday, March 28, 2024

Eagles don’t need Peserio to deliver, says ex-NFF board member

Sani Fema, a former board member of the Nigeria Football Federation has said that the Super Eagles are a group of talented players without good coordination and head coach.

Fema, who is now a Special Assistant on Sports to Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, made this known on Monday in Abuja, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.

He was reacting to the Super Eagles 1-0 defeat of the Djurtus of Guinea Bissau in the return-leg match of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier played on Monday at the Estadio 24 de Setembro Stadium in Guinea Bissau.

The Djurtus had three days ago humbled the Nigerian team 1-0 at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja in the first-leg of their encounter.

But Fema said the Eagles performance in Bissau showed that the team was capable of confronting and defeating any team in the world but that it lacked the technical crew to bring out the best in the players.

“We can play Brazil with the same players but the problem is that we don’t have a good coach, I am sorry to say this; our technical crew is not good enough but we have the players to play any team in the world.

“You can see that the players did well in Guinea Bissau, most especially in the first half, the host couldn’t attack them.

“I am so impressed with the team but like I said, we lack a good technical crew.

“I am not supporting Peserio, I prefer our local coaches.

“We have potential coaches, the likes of Sunday Oliseh and Emmanuel Amuneke. Oliseh is one of the best coaches in the world.

“Combine Oliseh with Amuneke and Salisu, then the Super Eagles are good to go because the players will listen to them having played in the team before them,” Fema said.

According to him, Oliseh is the best Nigerian coach to handle the present crop of Eagles.

Fema noted that Oliseh was not able to handle the team in his short stint as its coach because of circumstances beyond his control, but that the environment was befitting now for him to excel with the team.

“If you give Oliseh this calibre of players we have now, I tell you, the team will be the pride of the world.

“Imagine these players playing on a waterlogged pitch in Guinea Bissau and were still able to secure the maximum three points.”

He said that not even Sao Tome and Principe or Sierra Leon could stop the Super Eagles from finishing top of Group A and also picking the AFCON ticket.

Wing forward, Moses Simon, had utilised a penalty kick for Nigeria’s Super Eagles to defeat Guinea Bissau 1-0 on Monday in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers.

The win helped them to reclaim leadership of the qualifiers’ Group A which they lost on Friday in Abuja.

In the match day 4 fixture at the Estádio Nacional 24 de Setembro in Bissau, the Super Eagles were scoring their first goal in four matches.

After Friday’s shocking 0-1 loss to Guinea Bissau at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, the Super Eagles knew only a victory in Bissau would suffice.

Head Coach, Jose Peseiro made five changes to his starting 11 from Friday’s game, with Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi starting from the bench.

The Super Eagles started on a positive note and dominated the opening quarter of the game, but Guinea Bissau defended well.

Nigeria piled on the pressure while the Wild Dogs were just content with sitting back and soaking up the pressure from their visitors.

But just before the half-hour mark, impressive Fenerbahce full-back Bright Osayi-Samuel took matters into his own hands by dashing into the host’s penalty area.

He was consequently hacked down and the Mauritian referee had no choice but to award a penalty kick which Simon stepped up to convert calmly and superbly in the 29th minute.

Five minutes later, Nigeria had another golden opportunity to double the lead following a counter-attacking move which saw Samuel Chukwueze and Victor Osimhen against a Guinea-Bissau defender.

However, Chukwueze ignored sending an easy pass to Osimhen for a shot which went way off the mark, much to Osimhen’s disappointment.

Semi Ajayi came close again with a header moments later but his header was easily saved as Nigeria went into the break with a slim lead.

It was a slow start to the second half in Bissau as Nigeria looked for the second goal to kill off the game.

But it was not until just before the one hour mark that Super Eagles came close as Osimhen rattled the post from nothing.

Four minutes after the Osimhen chance, a defensive mix-up in the Nigerian defence led by goalkeeper Francis Uzoho almost gave the host a lifeline but their blushes were saved.

Joe Aribo came on and nearly made an immediate impact following good work from Simon.

But the Southampton midfielder saw his well-taken effort excellently saved by the Guinea-Bissau goalkeeper.

It was the last real opportunity in the game as the Super Eagles held on to take home a slim win that sees them return to the top of Group A.

They have now upstaged from the apex position Guinea Bissau who toppled them on Friday in Abuja with a 1-0 win.

Guinea Bissau are with seven points from four matches and in second place, ahead of Sierra Leone who have five points from four matches.

Nigeria will next face the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone in a Match Day 5 fixture. (NAN)P

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