Siasia settles for home-based players against Gabon

THE U-23 team technical crew will rely mostly on home-based players to prosecute the forthcoming 2015 All Africa Games qualifier against their counterparts from Gabon on February 20 in Libreville.

 The team’s Chief Coach, Samson Siasia, said yesterday in Abuja that although he did not have much information on the Gabonese, the players available to him would achieve the desired result from the game.

  Siasia, who explained that he decided to include the highest goal scorer at the just concluded Super Six competition, Christian Obiozor of Kano Pillars, and Kingsley Sokari of Enyimba of Aba in the team because his team lacked quality strikers, stressed that their inclusion would give the strikers the desired push.

  The former international praised the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for organizing the international friendlies against Tunisia’s Under-23 team, where his boys lost the first game 5-3 and won the second tie 3-0, noting the matches have added a lot to the team’s build up for the task ahead.

  “I will rely more on the home-based players because those playing abroad can easily disappoint you at the last minute and if that happens, everybody will be handicapped.

  “We have prepared the boys for the qualifiers, even as we are aware that there is still room for improvement and we will continue to shape up the team. We have to blend the players that went to Tunisia with those who played the Super Six competition because we don’t want some of them to think that they have been ignored,” he said.

  The U-23 coach, however, said he was worried by his defence, promising that he would work on that department, especially to build the understanding between the goalkeeper and the defenders.