Coach of the Nigeria’s National U-23 team, Samson Siasia has stated that some players of the Flying Eagles are part of his plans ahead of the All Africa Games and the Olympic qualifier.
The coach Manu Garba led team are currently training in Germany ahead of the FIFA U20 World Cup in New Zealand.
Siasia assures he will be keeping an eye on the players that perform well at the World Cup.
“Of course, they are in my plans and I will watch their games at the U-20 World Cup and the best of them will join us when they’re done,” he states.
“It’s natural for them to progress from the U-20 to the U23. Remember, I did it too when I was the U-20 coach and later the U23 coach. It’s a Nigerian team and not a Siasia team. If we think anybody is good enough, we will bring them in but the U20 boys are definitely in my plans.”
Siasia who led the Flying Eagles to a second place finish at the 2005 edition in Holland, praised Taiwo Awoniyi for his performance in their 2-1 win against Zambia in the AAG qualifier.
He went on to charge the players to go one better than his team did back then by winning the tournament for the first time.
“Who doesn’t like good things? We brought Taiwo (Awoniyi) in before our last game against Zambia, he came in and scored two goals for us so I have to be impressed.
“I will be following them at the World Cup and I hope they do well and better than we did in 2005. I want them to go on and win the tournament for us. If they do, it will be glory to Nigeria and we must understand that whenever a national team wins, it is for the country.”
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