Nigeria Content Online

Super Eagles coach,
Samson Siasia, is expected to handle his first training session as
Eagles’ boss as he takes charge of the team’s activities at the
National Stadium, Abuja later today.

The Beijing Olympic
silver winning coach had called up 30 players from the Nigeria Premier
League in preparation for the United States President’s Day Celebration
Soccer Invitational Tournament, the Green Soccer Bowl. The tournament
takes place between February 12 and February 20, 2011, and will feature
eight teams from around the world. The other teams are Egypt,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kenya Bahrain, Iraq, Poland and Malaysia.

The competition in
honour of United States President, Barack Obama will take place at the
Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, venue of Nigeria’s first-ever FIFA World
Cup finals match, which ended in a 3-0 victory for the Eagles’ against
first round opponents, Bulgaria in June 1994.

Siasia flew into
the country last night to settle down to work after celebrating the
yuletide period with his family in the United States while also having
a stopover in London where he met with some of the Super Eagles players.

Helping hands

Assistant coach,
Simon Kalika also arrived from the Netherland yesterday and will be on
hand to help Siasia alongside the newly appointed duo of second
assistant coach, Salisu Yusuf and goalkeeping coach, Ike Shorounmu.

While players were
actually expected to report to camp on Monday, three players of Premier
League side Warri Wolves got to Abuja on Sunday, 24 hours ahead of
schedule. They immediately joined other technical crew members
including goalkeepers’ trainer Shorounmu.

The Super Eagles
will play the national teams of Iraq, Malaysia and Poland in Group A of
the tournament in the USA next month, and on February 9, the Eagles are
expected to play an international friendly game with a yet to be named
opponent.

Though Siasia has
promised to take the invitational tournament serious, his first
competitive assignment will come up on March 27 when Nigeria hosts
Ethiopia in a 2012 Nations Cup qualifier.

The Eagles are currently behind Guinea in the group standings and
only the top finishers are guaranteed a place in the Nations Cup to be
co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in 2012.