–Dream team gaffer reveals
Nigeria U-23 national team coach,Samson Siasia has revealed the reason behind his decision to invite a large pool of players for first phase of the camping exercise is to give every player an opportunity and make the camping as open as possible.
The former Super Eagles handler said that providing the platform for these players is what he intends to do and wouldn’t have any real problems identifying quality talents that will help Nigeria from the large pool of players.
”Now that the League is over, those players who are eligible can come up and vie for a shirt in the team” begins Siasia.
We’re trying to give opportunities to every young player and that’s why we’re bent on getting the right players to form the nucleus of a new and strong national team,” he said.
Siasia has the assignment to raise a squad that will qualify Nigeria for the Men’s Football Tournament of the 11th All –Africa Games (taking place in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo in July 2015) as well as qualify for the CAF U-23 Championship (taking place in DR Congo, also next year), and also qualify for the Men’s Football Tournament of the 2016 Olympic Games in addition to the CAF U-23 Championship.
The first hurdle is an All –Africa Games qualifying fixture against Gabon, with the first leg away in Libreville towards the end of February 2015 and the return leg in Nigeria early March. The winner of that fixture squares up against the winner of the fixture between Zambia and Madagascar in late March.
The Dream Team, as Nigeria’s Olympic squad is known, will then take on the winner among Ghana, Liberia and Congo in the qualifying race for the CAF U-23 Championship in July.
Olympic gold medalists in Atlanta, USA in 1996, the Dream Team faltered at the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia, failed to qualify for the Athens 2004 Games, won silver medal in Beijing in 2008 and failed to qualify for the London Games in 2012.
COMMENTS
Nigerians believe so much in Siasia! May the Lord guide him to actualize his dream!