The Nigeria Football Federation believes the much-adored Nigerian Spirit will come to the fore and ginger the Super Eagles to solidify their FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying campaign when they take on the Les Fauves of Central African Republic in Douala on Sunday.
President of the NFF and FIFA Council Member, Mr Amaju Melvin Pinnick said on Thursday night that the Eagles have the character to bounce back from the shock home defeat by the central Africans and still fly very high above other contenders in Group C of the African race by taking the maximum points in Douala on Sunday.
“This result has been a huge shock, especially after the NFF provided everything necessary to make the team comfortable and focused on the task at hand, even going the extra mile in a number of areas. The Federation wishes to appreciate the Federal Government, the Lagos State Government and our partners and sponsors for their support to enable us provide the necessary comfort and conducive environment for the team to succeed, Pinnick stated.
“This is a setback, which can be quickly reversed, and the Nigerian Spirit is what we will take to Cameroon. The NFF is backing the team to retain a strong hold on the group and qualify to the knockout phase.
Read Also: Super Eagles’ Rating Player-By-Player In Defeat To Central African Republic
“At the halfway mark of this phase, our Super Eagles still top the group. I am in touch with even the players that are injured like Wilfred Ndidi, Oghenekaro Etebo and Alex Iwobi. They are all very sad with the result. The players who featured in today’s match are all very sober and sad. They know what is important now is their reaction to the situation when they take to the pitch in Douala on Sunday. We believe they will deliver against the same team.”
Pinnick said the NFF was taking responsibility for the defeat and urged Nigerians from far and near to get behind the team at this period.
“Everyone is stunned, but we do not have to be emotional or negative about things. The same team defeated Liberia here in Lagos and Cape Verde away. They still have that ability to deliver. As a Football Federation, we take responsibility for this defeat. We believe things will change positively in three days. We also believe that this loss is a massive wake-up call and could be the springboard to reset and motivate the team to keep giving their all to not only qualify for the World Cup but to perform well in Qatar.”
Nigeria remain top of Group C with six points, two more than both Cape Verde (who defeated Liberia’s Lone Star in Monrovia) and Central African Republic, with Liberia bumped to bottom place.
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COMMENTS
I love Nigerian fans, they will always say what’s in their mind no matter what e.g if super eagles win, ‘ha the eagles did not play well but won,’ ‘or I don’t like the way they are passing/pressing,’ or ‘Rorh substitution was late’ etc. And if the SUPER EAGLES lose,ha ‘Rorh must go,’ ‘Oyinbo wall is old,’ or ‘Osimhen Doesn’t know how to dribble’ etc.
Please sir/ma in life generally both success and failure have it’s attended lessons, in the SUPER EAGLES case the following should be noted
1. No matter the opposition, prepare well. The eagles barely had few days to prepare for this particular match
2. Always respect your opposition even if it’s rated 1000 in fifa rankings. The eagles were overconfident and they paid for it
3. Watch your opponent matches no matter the rankings, know their strong and weak point. I am sure (maybe wrong) CAR matches were not viewed by the eagles
4. Every team is beatable including the number 1 ranked team in the world and that includes the eagles
5. Take your chances when it comes the eagles did not took their chances yesterday if they did it would have been a different story altogether
6 Be considerate and focus even in defeat show true sportsmanship, shake hands lift your fellow teammates who are down encourage them and learn the lessons in such failure and move on. Truly speaking my beloved SUPER EAGLES were not ‘sportmanly’ in defeat yesterday
7. Don’t dwell too much on your loss/success. The eagles should not think too much on the defeat learn your lesson and move on. Better days are ahead
Oga Rorh don’t loose focus learn the lesson and move on. I believe you know what to do.
All those calling for a change, in as much everyone has an entitlement to personal opinion, let’s be careful the kind of change we need. Thanks
Ride on beloved SUPER DUPER EAGLE of my Father Land Nigeria, you will bounce back in a Great way
NFF, please pay outstanding salaries and allowances
Bad pitch, sack pinik now
Pinick’s and Dare’s bad belly against UYO is gradually catching up to them. Unfortunately, it is the whole country that has been made to suffer. I wonder why these men can’t take our matches to UYO which is the best stadium in the country today.
It is very unfortunate that we lost yesterday’s match. Nobody saw it coming. I think the bulk of the blame should go to the players especially our strikers who failed to convert begging chances on several occasions when they had the opportunity. Imagine osimhen balloning a ball after beating a defender inside the box instead of confidently holding on to the ball an pick a spot as an top class striker. Any slightest infringement would have resulted in a penalty no doubt. The coach did his job by devising feasible strategies on how chances would be created for goals which were evidently seen but sadly the guys whom were saddled with the responsibility to slot in the ball in the back of the net failed to deliver. Abi na the coach go go put the ball inside the net by himself?? This game in particular has taught the players a very big lesson, hopefully, they’d make up in the return leg on Saturday. The embarrassment is too much.
Our 5&6 is always jittery,balogun over confident with the ball is very bad, person wen no get skill,stamina,he just runs with the ball from the back like a cow(sorry). If we meet a good team with pace,I swear Dem go wallop us. How comes out 5&6 is always a threat with long balls…see that error a Rangers player balogun committed,ahhhhh.Awaziem is far far better than the dou.
Lol….no ounce of common sense here.
Such results against the CAR do happens once in a while in football , the favorites don’t always win. But the truth be told , SE were predictable and so have been under Rohr who if we are to remember has been in charge since 2016. Forget the missed chances and poor pitch, tactically the team is too rigid. No ordinary plan b nor alternative .
I second this…Rohr is too regimented in his approach and lineups, no innovation on his part.
He’s always quick to make excuses. “We missed Iwobi and Ndidi..”;my goodness, that’s why you are the coach. Against a hitherto hapless CAR…this shouldn’t be coming from him as an excuse for defeat.
Why would he field an Aribo as a DMF? That guy was the only player who could play the AMF role in that match, but the coach contrived to limit his creativity by playing him behind Iheanacho. I’m not sure of Rohr’s mettle.
One thing I’m sure of is that our players are bigger than him. When they don the national colours, it’s for the national honour and pride, as well as their career. They are not getting anything from him football wise. He’s not improving them in any way. It’s just a shame.