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Don’t judge Eagles by results of friendlies, Adepoju pleads

By Alex Monye
02 May 2016   |   2:16 am
Former Super Eagles star, Mutiu Adepoju, has pleaded with Nigerians not to judge the senior national team by the result of the international friendly games against Luxembourg and Mali.
Adepoju

Adepoju

Former Super Eagles star, Mutiu Adepoju, has pleaded with Nigerians not to judge the senior national team by the result of the international friendly games against Luxembourg and Mali.

The former midfielder, who is also a member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Technical Committee, said the friendly games were organised to help the coaches blend the new players with the old ones, adding that it would also put the team in shape ahead of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers slated to commence later this year.

He noted that the Eagles needed to start early preparation for the qualifiers to avoid the sort of lapses that stopped the team from qualifying for the 2017 African Nations Cup, adding that missing the 2018 World Cup would be damaging to the country’s football.

The former Racing Santander of Spain player said the delay in appointing a substantive coach for the Super Eagles will not derail the team’s preparation for the qualifiers, adding that the team’s interim coach, Salisu Yusuf, was focused on revamping the senior national team.

Adepoju opined that the Eagles would qualify for the 2018 World Cup and also be a force to reckon with in African football if the right players were used in matches.

“The Eagles need friendly matches to be in top form ahead of the World Cup qualifiers and I want to call on Nigerians not to use the outcome of the games to castigate the team. Doing so will affect the morale of the players ahead of the qualifiers.

“Right now the team is not getting the best of support because of their ouster from the AFCON. But for them to succeed in the World Cup qualifiers and also become a force once again, they need the total backing of Nigerians. With the selection of the best domestic and foreign-based players, I think the Eagles will fly again,” he said.

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