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Super Eagles hail NFF over UAE friendlies

By EDITOR
18 January 2015   |   6:16 pm
• Yemen coach accepts defeat AFTER two friendly games against Cote d’ Ivoire In Abu Dhabi and Yemen in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Super Eagles made up entirely players from the Nigeria Premier League have commended the leadership of the NFF under Amaju Pinnick, for the friendlies even as the players ask…

Amaju-Pinnick• Yemen coach accepts defeat

AFTER two friendly games against Cote d’ Ivoire In Abu Dhabi and Yemen in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Super Eagles made up entirely players from the Nigeria Premier League have commended the leadership of the NFF under Amaju Pinnick, for the friendlies even as the players ask for the sustenance of friendly games culture.

  The team lost the first game 1-0 to Cote d’ Ivoire and won the latter by 2-0 against Yemen.

   Speaking on behalf of his teammates, skipper of the side, Chigozie Agbim, said all the players were very happy that they were not redundant in January, following the mishap of non-qualification for the ongoing Afcon in Equatorial Guinea.

  He said he was speaking the minds of his teammates, who made the same remarks after the friendly against Yemen on Saturday in Dubai. 

  “All the players were unanimous in saying that playing friendly games is a way of making the team jell together and building the unity of the team, the coaching staff and the ensuring that the players are active throughout the year.

  “What we want to demand is that this laudable development should not be a one off thing. We want a sustenance of the culture of friendly matches in the Nigerian soccer system, so that we will get to know ourselves better and we will not have the problem of blending when we have crucial qualifying games like it happened in the ACN qualifiers,” he said.

  The team returned home yesterday, with Assistant Coach, Dan Amokachi, admonishing the players to keep the same level of discipline and focus at their various club sides if they hope to receive future invitations to the national team.

   He praised the team’s level of concentration during the friendlies and said it must be sustained at their various clubsides in the course of building a more virile national team.

  Meanwhile, Yemen Coach, Miroslav Skopp, who is a Czech, also had kind words for the Nigerian side, even as he conceded defeat. 

  “Your team played tactically and technically well, as expected they were hard on the ball and they deserve to win” he said in Dubai on Saturday night.

 

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