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Samson
Siasia can hold his head high and take pride in the performance of his
Super Eagles side in last Wednesday’s friendly match against the Leone
Stars.

Reactions trailing
the game have been mixed with some expressing satisfaction while it is
the reverse for others. But former teammates of the one-time Super
Eagles star are understandably backing Siasia to do well on the job.

Former Super Eagles
midfielder Emeka Ezeugo is one of such individuals and has called on
Nigerians to be patient with the former Heartland FC coach.

“I took a lot of
positives out of that game, and I believe he will definitely give
Nigerians a Super Eagles side we’re all going to be proud of. We only
have to be patient with him and the results will come,” said Ezeugo,
who was previously Siasia’s coaching assistant at Heartland.

“There were a lot
of new players in that team. Most of them had never played together and
only had a day to prepare for the game but I was impressed with the way
they played.

He added: “Yes, the
coordination wasn’t really there, particularly in the second half, but
they fought for every ball. They were winning most of the loose balls
and that is a good sign. It could mean only one thing, and that is that
these guys are ready to play for the coach.” Former Super Eagles
goalkeeper and skipper, Peter Rufai, also a one-time teammate of Siasia
is also confident of Siasia’s ability to deliver the goods if given all
the needed support.

“Siasia has shown
that he is capable of working as a coach in the past and I still have
the same belief that he will succeed if he is given every support to do
so,” said Rufai in an interview with Supersport. “He can go ahead and
achieve great things with the national team just like we did as players
in the 1990s.” Prospects With the performance on the night of some of
the previously unheralded players such as Ekigho Ehiosun, Ahmed Musa
and Joel Obi, who was so outstanding that he got a rare standing
ovation from the ever critical Lagos crowd after he was taken off by
Siasia midway through the second half, the Super Eagles could actually
match the feat of the all-conquering side of the 1990s.

But that will not
to come to pass in the opinion of former Super Eagles winger, Tijani
Babangida unless Siasia finds a way to gradually replace some of the
country’s aging stars with younger ones.

“It’s a fair
outing. It’s their first outing and they did well. But it was obvious
that the game belongs to the new generation of players and not the old
lions who have been there for long,” said Babangida. “I doff my hat for
the team but Siasia should drop the old lions to allow the new
generation of players come into it fully. The future belongs to them.
And I think the cap fits them.” That line of action appears to be on
Siasia’s agenda going by what he told reporters at the end of
Wednesday’s encounter.

“We still have a lot of guys there that we have not seen,” said
Siasia. “I have got to give them a chance. Like I said we are
rebuilding. We still have to see other players and as we move along we
make our corrections and we will look at the areas that we think we
have to put some other players in.”