Super Eagles coach, Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh has blamed poor coordination for his team’s inability to beat the Taifa Stars of Tanzania on Saturday.
The Super Eagles battled their Tanzanian opponents to a scoreless draw in Dar es Salaam in the match-day two of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. And Nigeria has debutant goalkeeper, Carl Ikeme to thank for single-handedly stopping the East Africans from beating Super Eagles for the first time.
Following what was interpreted in the Nigerian media as narrow-escape for the Eagles, coach Oliseh has identified lack of organization for his team’s failure to break down their low-ranked opponent. “We were disorganized in the first half but fared better in the second. In the second half we organized ourselves better but lacked that quality supply from midfield to attack. We will get better,” the former skipper disclosed after the match.
He therefore assured Nigerians of better performances and results in subsequent matches. His words: “We have to continue to build. We barely had two good days of training before this match so I am happy with the one point.”
Oliseh praised the debutante Wolverhampton Wanderers’ goal keeper, Carl Ikeme for saving the Eagles blushes in Dar es Salaam. “I don’t like to single out players from the team but I have to admit that Carl Ikeme had a great game for us,” he enthused.
Similarly, the stand-in captain for the match, Ahmed Musa has pleaded with Nigerian football fans to be patient with the new-look Super Eagles and support the team regardless of the outcome of the Saturday game. According to him, the team is a work in progress: “We just ask for patience for the rebuilding process as it will take some time. But we will definitely bounce back in style in our next game because we have noted our weak points,” he said.
By Olisemeka Obeche
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