The Nation Newspaper

Tag: home eagles

  • Salami leads Home Eagles in tricky Burkina Faso tie

    Salami leads Home Eagles in tricky Burkina Faso tie

    HOME Eagles captain Gbolahan Salami has told thenff.com that the team is even more determined to get a win for Nigeria and Coach Sunday Oliseh.

    “We want to win the game for Nigeria and we believe that securing the African Nations Championship (CHAN) ticket, in Rwanda will hasten the complete recovery of our head coach,”Salami said.

    Enyimba goalkeeper Femi Thomas, who was cover for Sunshine Stats goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa in the first leg, said Nigeria are ready for battle in Ouagadougou.

    “We are ready for Burkina Faso, we have been training hard for the game and we are just going to play our normal game to win,” he said.

    “I am calling on Nigerians to support and pray for us as we will do our own job on the field.”

    Nigeria are seeking a second appearance in the competition reserved for players plying their trade in their domestic leagues after they finished third on their debut last year.

    Last weekend, the Eagles defeated Burkina Faso 2-0 in the first leg played in Port Harcourt with goals from Gbolahan Salami and Bature Yaro.

    But Burkina Faso coach Traore Idrissa was far from impressed and boasted Les Etalons could overturn this advantage within 30 minutes of the return leg.

    The CHAN Eagles carved out the better chances in Port Harcourt, but the Burkinabes also threatened the Nigeria goal at least twice. Assistant coach Salisu Yusuf, in for the ailing Sunday Oliseh, is expected to ring a number of changes in the starting XI on Sunday at the August 4 Stadium in Ouagadougou.

    Rightback Solomon Kwambe is ruled out due to injury and his place could be taken by Orji Kalu or Matthew Etim, who was handed a late call-up.

    The Eagles defence led by Abia Warriors ace Austin Oboroakpo will be tested, but in attack Nigeria boast of several players who have goals in them  Gbolahan Salami, Bature Yaro, Chisom Chikatara, Osas Okoro and Ezekiel Bassey.

    “We do not expect an easy game and so we will fight as well,” said coach Yusuf.

    Burkina Faso were reportedly missing several players for the first leg and are expected to strengthen the team for this Nigerian visit.

    Kick-off time on Sunday is 5pm Nigerian time.

  • Home Eagles finally get Belgium visas

    Home Eagles finally get Belgium visas

    Only two home based players  made the trip to Belgium for Nigeria’s international friendly matches after the Belgian embassy finally issued entry visas to the team’s delegation yesterday.

    Defenders Chima Akas, Austin Oboroakpo, team media officer, Toyin Ibitoye, assistant coach, Alloy Agu, team doctor and curator flew out last night aboard a Luthansa airline.

    They were all given three weeks visa.

    The NFF through its protocol unit succeeded in securing seats for the players and officials at the Abuja international airport after failing to confirm their flights before they left for the airport.

    “We are on our way to the airport to see if we can get a flight to Belgium. If there is any further update l would let you know, ” said an official.

    NFF maybe penalised for no-show after the team missed its flight twice owing to visa hitches.

    SportingLife understands that Oliseh included the defenders for the friendly matches so as to have enough options to field against both opponents who are known for their physical style of football. Nigeria face Congo today and three days later tackle Cameroon.

    SportingLife gathered from an official that the team’s physiotherapist is expected to leave tonight without the other four players – Femi Thomas, Ikechukwu Ezenwa,   Paul Onobi and  Prince Aggrey who were all directed by chief coach, Oliseh to join their colleagues in Port Harcourt for next weekend’s Africa Nations Championship qualifier against Burkina Faso.

  • Amoo praises Home Eagles’ win over Ethiopia

    Amoo praises Home Eagles’ win over Ethiopia

    Fatai Amoo, former coach of Sunshine FC of Akure, said Saturday’s 2-1 win of the home-based Eagles over Ethiopia would boost the team’s morale ahead of the African Nations Championship (CHAN).

    Amoo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that the win was the right mentality the team needed to soar in the tournament.

    NAN reports that the friendly match, played at the National Stadium in Abuja, was part of both teams’ preparation for the CHAN.

    “It’s a great result for Nigeria and it’s the perfect attitude the team needed in order to excel in South Africa.

    “And this result is an indication that the team is fully prepared for the championship,” he said.

    He said the tournament would also be an avenue for the team’s technical crew to discover some good players, “as it prepares for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil”.

    The coach, however, said the team must stay focused in order to perform well in the tournament.

    “Despite this win over Ethiopia, the team must not lose focus because there’s a lot of work to be done,” he said.

    NAN reports that the championship will kick off on Jan. 11 in South Africa, and the Eagles will play their first match against Mali on Jan. 12.

    The Eagles are making their first appearance in the tournament, now in its third edition.

  • Keshi to Home Eagles: Club form will determine invitation

    Keshi to Home Eagles: Club form will determine invitation

    Super Eagles Head Coach Stephen Keshi has revealed to SportingLife that invitation of players to the senior national team is purely based on consistency at the club level.

    The Big Boss spoke at the backdrop of the dropping of two players and inviting four other to the team’s camp in Abuja. He said that for a player to be invited, such a player must be consistent and must be playing well “It is not necessarily when you are not playing you are invited to the national team. No, you must be playing regularly, and my coaches must have watched you play for your club before an invitation is extended to you”

    Continuing, the former international said “ seeing you play in one game will not determine your invitation but we must have watched you two or three times before an invitation is extended to you. That is the reason why we invited the four new players. We hope they would be able to measure up to expectations at the end of the day”.

    On the players that were dropped, the former Togo and Mali senior National Team coach said “as for those that were sent home, we feel that it is not yet time for them to be here, because we don’t have enough time to start grooming players. When such a time comes, we may extend invitations to them. They are good players at their own level, but there is no way we can keep everyone them” he concluded.

    He further revealed that there would not be any training tour for the home based players before the CHAN tournament holding in South Africa early next month, but said “we would have liked to be out 10 days before the kick off of the CHAN championship in South Africa, but I don’t think that would happen. All we are going to do is to stay here at home, to do the home work and leave for South Africa early in January to enable the player acclimatize before the championship proper” he concluded.