Sport
We owed Amuneke, Siasia but they won Trophies – NFF blasts Oliseh
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has once again criticized head coach of the Super Eagles, Sunday Oliseh, for blaming the federation for the country’s poor outing at the ongoing CHAN 2016.
Oliseh claimed that his squad were not well motivated and he had to spend $4,000 of his personal money, during their training camp in Pretoria, South Africa.
Responding to the former national team skipper’s claims, NFF board member, Chris Green, told Oliseh to imbibe tolerance like Samson Siasia and Emmanuel Amuneke, who despite being owed went ahead to win important trophies for Nigeria.
In an interview with TheCable, he said: I don’t think it is very fair to the NFF that Sunday Oliseh will say the team was not motivated. Of course, he sent his programme to the NFF, for him to camp in Nigeria as well as Pretoria in South Africa and that programme was executed. In South Africa, he had good matches to play, which he played. These were part of the preparations for the CHAN tournament.
“Ordinarily, in a tournament where one will have domestic players, one would have said they should remain in the country and prepare. But in this case, in total obedience to the programme of the coach, they had to leave Nigeria and went to Pretoria. And so, I will not want to say that the NFF did not motivate the team.
“What about Samson Siasia’s team that played all the way to the final and won the cup without being paid their match bonuses and allowances? What about Emmanuel Amuneke that played till the final and won the World Cup in Chile without being paid?
“Also, what about the girls that went to Namibia and won? They all know that their money will be paid to them. And I can assure you that very soon, all debts will be cleared when the NFF receives its money.”
Green also admitted that the federation were broke and that is why they were finding it hard to clear up debts and pay allowances.
“You and I, just like every Nigerian, know that the federation is very stretched financially, and money that has accrued to the federation is being expected. I wonder why, when we are getting to the tail end of when the money will be delivered to the football federation, one will now start saying it is because money was not given to the players that they were eliminated from CHAN at the early stage. I know that very soon, even though they did not make it to the next stage of CHAN, the players will be paid what they are owed,” he added.
The Board of Nigeria Football Federation on Monday approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee to appoint former ace winger Finidi George as Head Coach of the Senior Men National Football Team, Super Eagles.
George, who spent 20 months as assistant to José Santos Peseiro before the Portuguese voluntarily left the post following the accomplishment of Africa Cup of Nations runner-up position at Cote d’Ivoire 2023, took charge of the squad in interim capacity during two friendly matches in Morocco last month.
His squad edged Ghana 2-1 in the first match, ending an 18-year winless streak against the Black Stars, but then lost 0-2 to Mali in the second game.
George, a member of the so-styled ‘Golden Generation’ that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Tunisia and emerged the second most entertaining team in Nigeria’s debut at the FIFA World Cup finals in USA the same year, won 62 caps for Nigeria, including featuring at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals. He also won gold, silver and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2002 AFCON tournaments.
The 52-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Real Betis (Spain) forward, who made a scoring debut for fatherland in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Burkina Faso at the National Stadium, Lagos on 27th July 1991, also featured for Calabar Rovers and Sharks FC in the domestic scene before heading to Europe. He assisted Rashidi Yekini (of blessed memory) to score Nigeria’s first-ever FIFA World Cup goal against Bulgaria in Dallas, USA on 19th June 1994.
George had actually scored the goal that took Nigeria to that FIFA World Cup debut, when he put Nigeria ahead against hosts Algeria in a crucial qualifier in Algiers on 8th October 1993. The match eventually ended 1-1 and earned Nigeria a ticket to the finals in America.
The Super Eagles have arrived in the Federal Capital Territory after their second-place finish at the just concluded African Cup of Nations final.
Players including Alex Iwobi, Ahmed Musa, Victor Osimhen, Ola Aina, Frank Onyeka, Calvin Bassey, Ademola Lookman, Kenneth Omeruo, Joe Aribo and Williams Troost-Ekong were at the welcome breakfast at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
Members of the coaching crew are also at the breakfast.
“This is the kind of match where if either teams play the way they have been playing since the tournament begin, they should forget it.
If Osimhen doesn’t direct one of his 20 headers into the net and Lookman see free space to smash ball into net but wants to use his short legs to do a Papilo round the keeper, wo, we should forget it.
They should take their chances as they come and fast enough or else wahala go dey.
The Ivory Coast we beat in the group stages are not the same ones we will be facing. Those ones have extra motivation to win having come this far against all odds.
They have home advantage psychology. With thousands and thousands of their fans gingering them.
And they are looking for revenge.
Like I said, if we don’t take our chances, anything our eye see, we should take it as the will of God.”
— Hymar Idibie 🖊️
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