The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Super Eagles

  • Eagles won’t fail AFCON test – Akpeyi

    Eagles won’t fail AFCON test – Akpeyi

    Super Eagles goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi, has described as rare privilege, the invitation to play for the Super Eagles.

    The Warri Wolves shot stopper is among the 26 players from the domestic scene invited by Stephen Keshi to commence preparations for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against the Chadian national team on June 13.

    Akpeyi said his colleagues will work hard to justify the confidence the Super Eagles gaffer reposed in them by defeating the Chadians.

    “I always consider it a privilege to wear the green and white jerseys of the Super Eagles as well as being called to camp.

    “I’m confident we’ll have a good camp as well as quality training that will put us on good stand to confront the Chadians.

    “I’m certain we won’t let down the coach or abuse the implicit confidence he reposed in us,” the former Heartland goaltender told supersport.com.

     

  • AFCON: Esiti, Mbakogu may get Eagles’ invitation

    AFCON: Esiti, Mbakogu may get Eagles’ invitation

    Estoril midfielder Anderson Esiti and Carpi forward Jerry Mbakogu may be included in the Super Eagles squad for next month’s African Nations Cup qualifier against Chad.

    The home based players invited for the game are already in camp and sl10.ng gathered that Esiti and Mbakogu are two names that have been penciled down by Stephen Keshi for the game.

    The duo are among the list of foreign based players expected to be announced this week for the AFCON qualifier slated for Kaduna.

    Esiti made 16 appearance in the Portuguese league for Estoril and eight in the Europa league where his fine performances has led to talks of a move to French side, Monaco.

    Mbakogu scored 15 goals to help the modest Serie B outfit gain promotion to Italian top flight and he is expected to boost the Eagles forward-line that has been lacking goals of recent.

    The 22-year-old is heavily tipped to depart Carpi, with recent reports suggesting Udinese is leading the chase for his signature when the transfer window opens.

     

  • Pinnick demands 200% from Eagles

    Pinnick demands 200% from Eagles

    President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, has restated his charge to Super Eagles players, saying they must give 200 per cent every time they play for the country.

    “We have told all players that from henceforth when they see an invite we expect that once you accept to come, you must be ready to give 200 per cent for the country,” africanFootball.com quoted Pinnick as saying at a press conference in Abuja.

    “That is why we are having the code of conduct. So, it is not business as usual.

    “We have asked players to think over an invitation before they accept to come and don the white and green colours.”

    The team begins its quest to feature at the 2017 African Nations Cup against Chad next month.

    The NFF boss equally gave more insight to the recent kit contract the country entered with Nike.

    “We had a lot of challenges securing sponsors. I almost wept signing money for us to buy jerseys. I started this Nike talks in Malabo,” he offered.

    “For Nike to even say yes, I know people I talked to before they eventually called me for a meeting. I am not telling you that it’s a dream contract because if you want to have a dream contract you must achieve some mileage for instance winning the World Cup.

    “We had to do a lot of convincing before getting this deal. For the fact that we are not going to buy jerseys, we are going to get accumulated bonuses better than some big countries.

    “But the truth is that the contract process was tricky, that is why we did not make it public initially.

    “If we had made it public like many Nigerians had wanted, maybe today we would not have a sponsor. But today we can beat our chest to say we signed with the biggest brand.”

     

  • We won’t repeat Congo mistakes – Egwuekwe

    We won’t repeat Congo mistakes – Egwuekwe

    Super Eagles defender, Azubuike Egwuekwe, said next month’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Le Sao of Chad will not be taken for granted.

    Egwuekwe, as expected, is one of the 26 home-based players invited for the June 13 game and said the players will be looking to avoid a repeat of the qualifiers for the last Africa Cup of Nations where the team suffered a shock opening day defeat to Congo.

    “One thing that I know for sure is that we will not take them for granted,” he told sl10.ng.

    “Whether they are good or not, to us we will take it very seriously because we have to win. We want to start the qualifiers on a good note and avoid what happened the last time.

    “We lost our first game at home and that really affected us and we don’t want that to happen again. This time, every game we play in the qualifiers will be like a cup final for us and we will put everything in it to ensure we qualify for the next Africa Cup of Nations,” he said.

    When asked how easy or difficult he expects the Chadians to be, the 25-year old admitted he’s yet to see them play.

    “Well I can’t really say because I haven’t seen them play before so I don’t know how good they are,” he added.

  • Nigeria targets 2018 World Cup semi final

    Nigeria targets 2018 World Cup semi final

    Nigeria hopes to make history at the 2018 World Cup in Russia by becoming the first African team ever to reach the semi-finals.

    The Nigerians had reached the Round of 16 on three of their five World Cup appearances.

    “All efforts we are building now are geared towards getting Nigeria to play the semi-finals in Russia,” Amaju Pinnick, the Nigeria Football Federation president, told BBC Sport.

    “We have the manpower to do that. The talent in Nigeria is amazing.”

    Pinnick’s comments might come as a surprise given Nigeria failed to qualify for this year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.

    Two years ago Nigeria won the title but the decline has been brought about by a mixture of turmoil within the NFF, the sacking and rehiring of coach Stephen Keshi and threats of FIFA bans for government interference in football matters.

    Nonetheless, Pinnick, who assumed control of Nigerian football, last September following protracted elections, lists a number of reasons why Africa’s largest country – with a population of 170million people – can finally deliver at the World Cup.

    He believes technology, “capacity-building” for Keshi, a better local league, the country’s natural ability and enhanced administration can provide the platform for significant growth.

    The NFF boss travelled to London this week with five staff to belatedly tap into long-standing technological applications.

    “Our coaches can be technically sound but technologically they were inept, because football for me is driven more by technology than anything else,” said Pinnick.

    “We are in the process of acquiring match analysis software, so that when we go back home, we won’t play our matches blindly. We are starting late but we are getting it right – that’s the most important point.

    “We now have the match analysis software that can analyse games for us and give us directions because normally we play matches without knowing our opponents nor their strengths and weaknesses,” he stated.

  • Keshi opens Eagles’ camp mid- May

    Keshi opens Eagles’ camp mid- May

    Super Eagles  coach, Stephen Keshi, is expected to open camp for the domestic-league based players in May, ahead of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifiers at home to Chad in Abuja in June.

    Keshi told Goal that he needs to start camping for the home-based players on time with the fixtures for the AFCON qualifiers pitching Nigeria with Egypt, Chad and Tanzania.

    “We need to start camping next month by the special grace of God because time is not on our side again since the fixtures for the AFCON 2017 qualifiers have been released by CAF,” Keshi told Goal.

    “We will definitely start off with the players based here in Nigeria and move on until the required time the overseas clubs can release our players for us.”

    A very close source to the team told Goal that Keshi would be expecting the players to hit Abuja camp as from Sunday, May 17 since the players would be involved in weekend matches for their various clubs in the local league in the country.

    “The camp is expected to kick off middle of May since we will be playing our first qualifying match at home in Abuja to Chad on June 13. So the players are expected to start arriving camp after their league matches on Saturday, May 16. So we should expect them to be available on Sunday, May 17,” the source disclosed.

    The source also revealed that Keshi would submit his programme to the Technical Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation this week.

    “Keshi has already drawn up his programme for the camping and will submit his programme before Friday this week,” the source also told Goal.

    Friday being a public holiday, it is expected that the coach would drop his programme before the end of work on Thursday.

  • Keshi needs support to succeed – Geremi

    Keshi needs support to succeed – Geremi

    Former Cameroon midfielder, Geremi Njitap, has called for adequate support for Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi in order to succeed on the job.

    Keshi was handed a new two-year contract on Tuesday, 10 months after his previous deal expired at the end of the World Cup while he worked on a per-game contract during the failed 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, Goal reports.

    Geremi, a member of the highly talented 2000 and 2002 AFCON-winning Indomitable Lions, said the Nigeria Football Federation needs to put everything in place in order for the 53-year-old to do well.

    “I’m happy for him because the federation gave him another contract, it means that the officials trust him. But they have to support him. It’s not only him that has to make the difference,” Geremi told Goal at Heineken’s #ChampionTheMatch in Lagos.

    Cameroon defeated Nigeria in the final of the 2000 AFCON in Lagos via penalties and retained the title at the next edition against Senegal.

    Geremi, 36, played in that Indomitable Lions squad which also won the Olympic gold medal at Sydney 2000.

    “Nigeria just like Cameroon think that they will always have talents but it’s not every time.

    “They have to work hard and put in some money and encourage young kids to play football.

    “Good education, as well, will help the country,” he said.

     

     

  • NFF to announce Keshi’s assistant soon

    NFF to announce Keshi’s assistant soon

    The Nigeria Football Federation has said it will announce the assistant coaches of the Super Eagles soon.

    The NFF on Tuesday ended the long-drawn contract talks with Stephen Keshi after the former Eagles captain signed a two-year contract with the federation, africanFootball.com reports.

    However, the NFF failed to confirm Keshi’s assistants, noting that it would be done on a later date.

    “Now that we are done with the signing of Stephen Keshi as the head coach, we can now focus on other issues for instance his assistants,” africanFootball.com quoted Felix Anyansi-Agwu, the NFF technical committee chairman, as saying at the ceremony.

    “We need to sit down with Keshi to discuss his assistants and also his programme for the national team.”

    Former Kano Pillars coach, Salisu Yusuf, is expected to replace Daniel Amokachi as Keshi’s most senior assistant.

  • Keshi begs Nigerians over protracted contract talks

    Keshi begs Nigerians over protracted contract talks

    Out of contract Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, has apologised to Nigerians over his protracted contract talks with the Nigeria Football Federation.

    A very sober Keshi in a chat with africanFootball.com also begged the NFF president Amaju Pinnick and entire executive committee of the soccer body.

    “I have used the last few weeks for a deep sober reflections and I have realised that I have made mistakes,” he told africanFootball.com.

    “I want to sincerely apologise first to Nigerians. Although I did that when we failed to qualify for the African Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea. But no amount apology is too much for Nigerians, and from the depth of my heart I am really sorry for the pains I may have directly or indirectly caused Nigerians.

    “I ask for their forgiveness because I know that once Nigerians are behind you and support the team we will all succeed.”

    He added: “I want to personally apologise to the NFF president Amaju Pinnick and the executive committee members. I personally like the manner in which they have handled things. I want to ask their forgiveness in any way I have erred. Like it is said, it is human to err and divine to forgive.

    “Now that we have entered a new page, I want to say that my first stint as Eagles coach was a learning curve for me. I have made mistakes and those mistakes have made me better and I learnt a lot from them.

    “I want to also apologise and appeal to the media. They are my friends in the media and I need them to succeed. I ask the media to forgive me and put the past behind because I need them for the Eagles to succeed.”

  • Eagles: Stakeholders want fans to be patient with team

    Eagles: Stakeholders want fans to be patient with team

    Following Super Eagles’ 1-1 away draw with the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in a friendly game, some stakeholders have called for patience with the Nigerian team.

    The stakeholders who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after the match said that the present crop of Eagles ‘were works in progress’.

    Ramson Madu, an Assistant coach of Heartland Football Club of Owerri said the team would improve with time.

    “Although their first friendly game against the Cranes of Uganda at home was disappointing, I believe they will perform well in future,” he said.

    Isa Akor, a player with the ‘Naze Millionaires’, as Heartland were widely known, said the players would need more matches to be able to understand one another on the pitch.

    “With more matches they will do well; what is needed in the team now is for players to sharpen their reflexes,” he said.

    He called on the handlers to look inwards into the various leagues to pick outstanding players.

    Obinna Anyamele, a Marketing Manager of Guinness Nigeria plc., the sponsors of the Eagles, said there was still room for improvements.

    “The guys are doing well but have not sufficiently imbibed the killer instinct as well as the right technical input envisaged in a big team in the making,’’ he said.

    He then appealed to fans in the country to stand firm with the team in order for them to play their hearts out.

    “If they know that Nigerian’s are massively behind them, they will play with the interest of the nation at heart,” Anyamele noted.