Nigeria Content Online

Super
Eagles coach, Samson Siasia has called on his players to live up to the
national team’s Super Eagles name as he starts rebuilding the team,
beginning with today’s friendly against Sierra Leone.

In what was his
first official meeting with the team on Tuesday morning at the Eko
Hotel and Suites, Lagos the former Super Eagles striker made it clear
that there would be no ‘big man’ in the side, and that everyone was
equal in the team beginning from Joseph Yobo right down to the players
from the Nigerian league.

“Yobo is our captain, but there are no big players here. Any big player must show the bigness on the pitch,” said Siasia.

“This is a new Super Eagles, and you must fly high.

“Nigerians want to
see a new team, with a new and positive attitude and we have our work
cut out trying to meet the high expectations of a people who have
tremendous passion for the game.”

The golden era

In recent years,
the Super Eagles have become a shadow of the all-conquering side of the
1990’s which won the African Cup of Nations in 1994, including two
successive second round appearances at the FIFA World Cup.

Siasia played a key
role in most of the national team’s success stories of that period and,
in the light of the team’s poor showings, especially at last year’s
World Cup in South Africa, he has charged the players to go all out and
return the Super Eagles to the top of the game in Africa beginning with
the game against the Leone Stars.

“We must respect
one another in this set-up,” he continued. “We also have to work hard.
It is important that we get some good results as we start in order that
our people will forget the disappointment of the FIFA World Cup finals
in South Africa.

“You may think the
Sierra Leone match is a friendly and a small game, but Nigerians will
begin to judge us from this first game, and it is very, very important
that we show great spirit. We must fight for the ball and play for one
another.

“This match will
prepare us for the African Nations Cup qualifying match against
Ethiopia coming up next month. And we all know we must win all our
remaining matches in the qualifying series.

“What I know and what I can tell you for sure is that Nigerians are
good people. If you show the spirit and you fight for the ball, they
will support you all the way,” he added.