Nigerians should understand Oliseh, says Pinnick

Burkina Faso to help Pharaohs against Eagles
By Gowon Akpodonor

Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, may have turned down an order by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), to appear before its technical committee tomorrow (Friday).

The NFF was said to have summoned Oliseh to appear before the Barrister Chris Green-led technical committee tomorrow to brief the members on his choice of players for next month’s crucial 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Pharaohs of Egypt.

But a source close to Oliseh told The Guardian yesterday that the coach would not be in Nigeria for now. “I doubt if Oliseh is not coming to Nigeria this week,” the source said.

However, the President of the NFF, Pinnick Amaju, has urged Nigerians to ‘take things easy’ with Oliseh saying: “I want people to understand that coaching a national team requires a lot of things.

“I am always in touch with Oliseh and people should allow him do the job he has been assigned to do. He is in constant touch with the players in Europe and we are monitoring him as well. We have a crucial game against Egypt next month and Oliseh needs to reach out to the players from time to time,” Pinnick said.

Speaking further, the NFF boss, who spoke with The Guardian from London yesterday said: “People should see reason with Oliseh because virtually all the players he will use for the game against Egypt play in Europe from week to week. There is no FIFA window for us to organize friendly games for the Super Eagles for now, so the best thing is for the coach to monitor the players in Europe.

The Super Eagles host Egypt at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna on March 25, before flying to the North African country two days later, for the return fixture.

Training camp for the tie is expected to open in two weeks’ time, as players from the domestic league are expected to arrive earlier.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s head coach, Hector Cuper, says that he’s happy to reunite with his players, as they are getting ready to face Burkina Faso in a friendly.

The Pharaohs manager was quoted by KingFut.com as saying the encounter against the Burkinabe next Saturday would help to prepare for the tie against Nigeria.

“I am happy to meet with the players again in order to explain my thoughts and therefore increase the harmony between them and the coaching staff,” Cuper said.

“Burkina Faso’s game will prepare us well for the Nigeria clash in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, despite not having our players abroad, this is a good chance to test our local league’s best players,” he stated.