President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the Super Eagles to work for resounding victory against Iceland on Friday.
The nation’s number 1 citizen reassured the team of the nation’s support as well as that of his government, describing it as total.
The Super Eagles, now struggling at the bottom of the Group D table in the ongoing World Cup in Russia, got the presidential morale booster, Tuesday, via a telephone call.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Russia, Professor Steve Davies Ugbah, initiated the phone interaction between the team and the President.
He was in company of the Sports Minister and head of the Federal Government delegation to the global football festival, Solomon Dalung, who watched the Super Eagles/Croatia misadventure in Kaliningrad, last Saturday.
Also on Tuesday, and Following the President’s morale-boosting conversation with the team, a top notch of the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, affirmed that the Eagles have no excuse to fail the country any more. He assured that the team had put the defeat by Croatia behind them and were now ready to go for the maximum points in their remaining group encounters.
“Like all Nigerians back home,” Akinwunmi said, “and like the team itself, the NFF was not happy with the loss to Croatia. But the Eagles have climbed above that cloud now and are ready to conquer. They have put behind them the defeat and looking ahead with determination to the remaining two games.
“I can confirm to you that the team is not lacking motivation in any way. Our agreement with them was that they would get their entire money for the group phase once they qualify; it is not a match-by-match basis. So, they are aware that if they win the remaining matches or just achieve the minimum to qualify from the group, they will still earn the money for all three matches,”Akinwunmi said.
Judging from past experiences, Akinwunmi’s statement on the Eagles pay may raise deep concerns with football buffs who had warned that Russia 2018 should not be like previous World Cups that usually ended in fiasco over players’ bonuses.
In the past, officials lorded things over the team so much so that it affected performance on the field of play and overall result. It remains to be seen if the current competition would not end the same way, especially if the Eagles fail to soar.
However, Akinwunmi, in typical civil service fashion, praised Sports and Youth Development Minister, Barrister Solomon Dalung, for rallying Nigerians behind the team and staying behind in Russia to support the team in the remaining matches.
“We cannot fully express our appreciation to the Sports Minister, who has called on Nigerians to keep supporting the team and personally expressed belief in the team’s ability to reach the knockout rounds. We still have him with us here in Russia and he will lead the delegation to the match against Iceland in Volgograd.
“Barrister Dalung also greatly inspired the Eagles during the qualifying race, personally leading the delegation to the matches in Zambia and Cameroon and being also on ground in Uyo for all the home matches against Algeria, Cameroon and Zambia.
“It is now left for the team to go all out and give Nigerians joy by winning their remaining games,” Akinwunmi added.