The Nigeria Football Federation and Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia are heading for a clash over the venue for next month’s key Nations Cup qualifier against Ethiopia, Ijaw boy has scooped.
While NFF President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, has confirmed that the game will be held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, Siasia is not willing to expose his wards to the harshly critical Lagos fans again.
Siasia was apparently displeased with the attitude of the Lagos fans who booed his team even when they were leading Sierra Leone in Wednesday night’s friendly match.
The former Flying Eagles coach, who began his reign as coach of the senior national team with a nervy 2-1 win over the Leone Stars, also believes that the artificial turf was one major reason his team failed to impress and will have to decide with the players if the game could still hold at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.
"Mikel couldn't feature in the friendly because of the artificial turf,” he said. “Also others who were nursing one injury or the other were not comfortable with the artificial turf. But nothing has been decided yet. I will have to discuss this with the players if we should go back to Abuja for our next game against Ethiopia next month," he said
But Maigari insists that the NFF intends to bring more Super Eagles matches to the Centre of Excellence, which is regarded as the home of football in the country.
"There's no way that the Eagles will play only one game in Lagos. We intend to bring more matches to Lagos where we believe is the home of football in the country. The game against Ethiopia is a must win for us and we won't see the boos from the fans as a setback in achieving that aim.
“The fans reaction in that game should not be seen as anything negative, but something that will make the team stronger when they play in front of them next time. The team will get better with time and impress them.
"We want the best for the Super Eagles and all the national teams. Our goal is to maintain Nigerian football’s steady development, although to ensure we continue our development, we have to improve our structures,” he added
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