Leadership
(Abuja)
Ishola Bashir
24 January 2008
Sequel to the 0-1 loss to the Elephants of Cote D'Ivoire at Essipon Stadium, Sekondi on Monday, the Super Eagles will be on redemption mission against the Eagles of Mali.
The match against the Malians is not only important to the Super Eagles image, but also crucial to the team's qualification for the second round of competition.
Nigeria needs the maximum three points from the clash against Eagles of Mali to redeem her hope of remaining in the Africa Cup of Nations contention.
Currently, the Elephants of Cote D'Ivoire and Eagles of Mali, who secured maximum three points from their first matches, are topping group B table with three points each.
While, the Super Eagles of Nigeria and Squirrels of Benin Republic are last on the table with no points to savour.
In view of the afformentioned, the Eagles would be on a do or die mission against the Malians on Friday at Sekondi stadium.
But the million naira question is will Eagles still qualify for the second round of the competition?
This question takes us to the strength of the Eagles of Mali who recorded their first victory against Benin Republic the same day Eagles flopped.
In the squad, there are good players like Mamadi Sidibe, Mahamadou Diarra, Seydou Keita, Frederic Kanoute, and Mohamed Sissoko who could wreck Nigeria.
But if the present mood in the Nigeria camp is anything to go by, then the Super Eagles still have hope of moving into the second round.
Already, the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), yesterday morning at their Raybow Hotel, Sekondi, went into a marathon session on how to salvage the situation at hand.
Ditto, the players and their officials have returned to the drawing table to correct the flaws in the team so that they could win the game against Mali.
In view of this, coach Berti Vogts has promised to line up a killer squad against Mali, despite his defence of the poor substitution made against Elephants.
But then he still hopes to retain regular players like Obafemi Martins, John Utaka, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Taye Taiwo, Nwankwo Kanu, keeper Austin Ejide, Joseph Yobo, Onyekachi Apam and Danny Shittu who had a good game against Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire.
Going into the history of Nigeria/Mali meet, there are no records that Mali has ever beaten the Eagles.
At least, the 2002 Nations Cup 2-1 Eagles' defeat of Mali is still fresh in everybody's memory.
It is, however, not clear if the German will remember the likes of Obinna Nsofor and Ikechukwu Uche, who were kept on the bench when Eagles' really needed a match winner at all cost.
Whatever may be the case, the Eagles coach promised that the two matches against Mali and Benin Republic would be won hands down.
This is why the fans at Sekondi stadium would be enjoying the worth for their hard earned money on Friday.
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I strongly believe that Nigeria can make to the next round of the competition. However, they should be very careful because a team like Mali can be very dangerous. I wish both teams the best of luck in this epic encounter.
the supper eagles have all it takes to bring down the malians,but my problem is that we lack that sharp attacking and fighting spirit(epileptic)unlike the typical supper Eagles of usa94.the error against ivory coast should be avoided,odemwinghe, martins ,yaks sld strike harder.yobo,ejide and taye are doing well.i wish them well.
As a true Nigerian, I stand by them. And am proclaim this day that I believe the super eagles of Nigeria are in the finals. The lost to Ivory Coast is a trigger.