Chairman of the Technical and Development Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation, Chris Green, wants the present crop of Super Eagles to be retained for the FIFA 2018 World Cup qualifier against Zambia in October.
Nigeria laboured to a 1-0 win over the Taifa Stars of Tanzania in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Uyo last weekend, which was meaningless in terms of the qualifying, as Egypt had already earned the sole group G ticket.
Green, who said he was satisfied with the team’s performance and wanted continuity, bemoaned the state of the pitch, which he felt impeded the Super Eagles on match day.
“It was a good game generally. I saw the resilience of our team, as usual. These days, it’s not easy keeping on the pressure and bagging the three points. The Tanzanians came with a game plan to see how they could check us and catch us on the counter, but our boys were on top of their game,” Green said.
“Unfortunately the playing turf did not really help matters because it was stunted and very heavy to play on. We would put the game to bed in the first half but for the poor state of the field, which robbed us of a minimum of three goals coming from the likes of Victor Moses, (Kelechi) Iheanacho and the rest of them.
“It took the brilliance of one Kelechi Iheanacho, who we can say has been one of the successes from the U17 to the U20 and now playing at the ‘A’ level, that’s the national team A (the Super Eagles).
“Generally the team played very well despite the fact we played on a field that was stunted, undulating and heavy to play on. These are all technical matters, but I was satisfied with their play and I believe if they (Super Eagles) continue that way, we would go a long way,” he added.
Green also suggested that Port-Harcourt might be considered for the World Cup qualifiers as
an alternative to Uyo, as Nigeria prepare to hunt for a third successive FIFA World Cup appearance.
“Port-Harcourt was initially given the nod to host the game against Tanzania, but unfortunately it was not to be. We will look at the possibility of playing the Algeria, Cameroon and Zambia games in Port-Harcourt,” Green said.
“Apart from getting the best of pitches in Port-Harcourt, it will be an opportunity for the people of Rivers State to come out in their number to see the stars of the Super Eagles and give them the normal warm reception that we always have, and wonderful hospitality.
“From the Technical and Development Committee, without waiting for a final decision on the matter, we have put ourselves together in the field.
“This team has been together since the friendlies we put together in France against Mali, and as well as Luxembourg.
“If you look at the team, you will see there is an understanding now that is beginning to brew among the players, and to some extent a bit of consistency. Apart from Mikel and Ahmed Musa, that did not play in the two games immediately, we brought them in when they were able to fit in.
”For the purposes of building a team, which we are doing now, I think we need to keep this team together. We don’t need to bring in any Ronaldo or any Messi into the mix right now because it may distort things.
“Let them build this team and correct the mistakes that we noticed against Tanzania, and we take it from there. For the game against Zambia, I think we should get the core from this group.
“When we play Algeria and Cameroon, which is a long time from now, it will afford us an opportunity to put up friendly games where those of them that we have been looking at, studying and keeping tabs on will have the opportunity of coming to play with the team and see if they can fit into the formation we are playing right now.
“For now I will advise they should continue with the present crop of players within this group, unless except we have cases of loss of form, injuries or card problems,” the NFF chief added.
