|
|
Nigeria: Siasia Seeks Beijing Glory for Eagles Job
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
This Day (Lagos)
26 March 2008
Posted to the web 26 March 2008
Tunde Sulaiman
Lagos
Although what will be squarely on Samson Siasia's mind this evening at the Abuja National Stadium is ensuring his U-23 squad successfully negotiates past the Amaglug-glug to secure the lone ticket to this summer's Olympic Games at the expense of close rivals the Black Meteors of Ghana.
However, beyond the all important Beijing ticket is another very important issue - the likelihood of the former international being elevated to the senior national team job based largely on the performance of his youngsters today in Abuja.
The thinking in a large section of the top hierarchy of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) is for the one time Eagles striker to be given the task of tinkering with his former team for the qualification campaign for South Africa 2010 since they believe that the bulk of the U-23 side will be the ones flying Nigeria's flag at the first World Cup to take place in Africa.
But while the idea is still being considered, the man under the microscope will not allow such a possibility to distract him from the immediate task at hand. The South Africans may have nothing to play for but then neither did Egypt when they shocked the Indomitable Lions in Yaoundé to hand over the Germany 2006 ticket to the Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire three years ago!
So one of the major hurdles Siasia will have to guard his wards against is complacency with his players believing that they only need to show up to triumph over the South Africans.
But once a former junior international himself, Siasia is a veteran of many such situations having guided the Flying Eagles to a very impressive silver finish at the World Youth Championships in Holland three years ago and since then has done a very decent job of getting Dream Team IV on the road to Beijing. Save for a surprise draw on the road to today's foes last year Siasia's lads have remained on course and even pulled off a stunning goalless draw with the Black Meteors in Accra, which ensured that the Dream Team still has everything to play for today.
In Taye Taiwo, Victor Anichebe and Onyekachi Apam, Siasia has brought together some of the best players available to the country at U-23 level and baring any major setback should be able to power past the Amaglug-glug and secure the all important Olympic ticket.
Sipho Mkumane, Team Manager of the Amaglug-glug, has written off the chances of his wards even before the game has been played, saying on arrival Monday that the nation was more concerned with the senior team's friendly against Paraguay today. "South Africa has no chance of qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games," Mkumane said.
|
But in spite of these comments the South Africans will definitely be playing for pride, but with Nigeria knocking on the door of Beijing, this might not just be enough to deny the Dream Team from booking the flight to the Far East in August. As for Siasia, a good showing today will further enhance his standings as a possible Super Eagles coach.
Nigeria, who won the gold medal at the Atlanta Games in 1996, is chasing the last of three places available for Africa in the 16-team tournament.
Cameroon and the Cote d'Ivoire have already qualified.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
