A cross-section of stakeholders in Nigerian football says the senior male national team, the Super Eagles, have the capacity to excel at the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup and beyond.
The stakeholders expressed this view on Tuesday in Port Harcourt at a one-day seminar organised by the management of The Sun Newspapers, in conjunction with the AITEO Group.
The seminar, which was organised with the Rivers Government’s support and the endorsement of the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports, examined the Eagles’ chances at the mundial.
The World Cup will kick off on June 14 in Moscow.
The stakeholders also expressed the belief that the Eagles could excel beyond the 2018 World Cup with a good team spirit, and determination of players, sponsors and management team.
Danladi Bako, a former Director-General of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), said the Super Eagles would succeed if the National Assembly ensured statutory funding for the team.
He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to also motivate the national team by attending more matches they engaged in.
“Also, the team can succeed if sports writers stopped promoting players to the national team when they knew that such players were not good enough to don the national colours.
“There should be the promotion of cohesion and team spirit by managers, rather than squabbles and rancour. Where a team lacks unity, there will be a breakdown in communication and there will also be failure.’’
Bako also called for a proper structure where a national team was built from the cadet levels to the senior level.
“We all hope that the Eagles will do well if the managers work on the mentality of the players,’’ he added.
Also speaking, Fanny Amun, a former coach of the under-17 male national team, called for long-term preparation for the national team to succeed beyond Russia 2018.
“We will experience failure if players don’t train and play constantly. Long-term preparation is far better than a short preparation and political will is vital in team preparation.
“Funding is there, but should be complementary to team preparation. All Nigerians should support the team to succeed in Russia and beyond,’’ Amun whose team won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Japan in 1993 said.
In his remarks, Emeka Inyama, the Chairman of Abia Warriors, said “the maturity of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) management is a plus in managing the players’’.
“This time, there is unity. For the first time, the players are getting their `alerts’ before the World Cup,’’ he said.
Inyama also enjoined the NFF to prevail on President Buhari to assent to the NFF Bill passed by the National Assembly to move the country’s football beyond Russia 2018.
A former Super Eagles coach, Adegboye Onigbinde, said “Eagles players should be able to retain the ball, release the ball and receive the ball’’.
“There should be cohesion for the overall success of the team.’’
He also said God had been kind to Nigerian football, adding that with adequate backing of government the Super Eagles would succeed in Russia and even beyond the 2018 World Cup.
“The endowment is there to galvanise the team to a level that can make the country proud,’’ Onigbinde said.
NAN reports that the seminar had as its theme “That the Super Eagles May Excel in Russia 2018 and Beyond’’.
