Reigning African Footballer of The
Year, Yaya Toure, who captained the Elephants of Cote D’Ivoire has said he was
shocked at the display of the Super Eagles made up of entirely Nigerian league
players against his star studded teammates last Sunday night in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking to the media and later to
Coach Dan Amokachi, Toure said at a point he believed that his
mates were
deceived to believing that Nigeria was going to parade a wholly home based side
but was convinced that it was not the case. Amokachi had to tell him that apart
from Steve Ukoh, who plays in Switzerland and had his first cap for the Eagles
all the other players are from the Nigerian Premier League.
Toure added, “At a point I had to
tell my teammates to slow down the pace of the game and when we scored we could
not wait for the final whistle, because the boys were all over us. They must be
commended for their confident display” he declared.
All the way from Germany, Eagles
defender Leon Balogun, has also said kudos to the Eagles for a good display
against the Ivorians. “My heart and soul has always been with the team and
hopefully I will rejoin the team to recreate those beautiful moments that we
had when I first played with them”, he said. Balogun presently plies his trade
with German second division side, SV Darmstadt 98.
Also speaking on the match, NFF
Technical Committee Chairman, Chief Felix Anyansi Agwu, General Secretary, Musa
Amadu and HOD Technical Department, Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme commended the grit with
which players of the Super Eagles approached the game after staying together
for only nine days before the match.
Anyansi said it was a fantastic
advertisement for the Nigerian league, noting that with more time the team will
go places and probably be champions of the forthcoming CHAN tournament. Amadu
on his part, said he believed that despite observable lapses, the team was
simply in a class of its own, especially against the fact that they were
playing against a much more experienced side. Ikpeme on his part said “I am
impressed, very impressed, the players must keep it up and improve on what we
have seen today”.
Others who showered praises on the
team are Executive Committee members of the NFF, Inua Rabiu Sheriff and Hussein
Modibbo, who were both in Abu Dhabi to cheer the team.
No comments:
Post a Comment