By Kate Obodo
Former Green Eagles winger, Adokie Amiesimaka has called on the Super Eagles coach Shaibu Amodu to plug the gaping holes in the team if they are to defeat Tunisia in the World Cup qualifier in Tunis next Saturday.
GOAL: Ikechukwu Uche (l) swerves a Kenyan defender on his way to scoring Super Eagles’ first goal in their 3-0 pounding of the Harambee Stars at the Abuja National Stadium last Sunday. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan.
The former Sharks of Port Harcourt chairman believes the Tunisian side would be more difficult to play because they are a better side compared to the Harambee Stars of Kenya, stressing that the Eagles showed element of complacency in their play in the Abuja match.
“We should appreciate that the Tunisians are a competent side. In our team, there are gaping holes and by that I mean, attitudinal problem, not going into a match with 100 per cent commitment. That was our biggest problem. We have the players but they are not 100 percent committed”, he said.
In a telephone chat with Saturday Vanguard, the former Green Eagles winger said the “Eagles should expect a vociferous crowd like what they saw in Abuja. They should expect Tunisia to come out and attack, so our Eagles should be ready to counter attack, if they do that we should be able to have a good result in Tunisia.”
Amiesimaka described the match against Kenya as woeful but with a good result. “The play was woeful against Kenya, but we had a good result. The Kenyans played as if they were at home. The moment we scored, our players went to sleep and allowed the Kenyans to dominate play.
Our midfield was too weak and we can not expect to do that against Tunisia”, he said. “Tunisia is the only Africa champion to be at Korea/ Japan 2002 and repeat this same outing in 2006 so they are not the side that can be underrated. We have a long history with Tunisia.
They stopped us from going to the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. Currently they are topping our table and we should appreciate that fact. We are not a bad side either. We have done very well too. I spoke with Amodu and he confirmed some lapses and said he was going to address them.
We still need Nwankwo Kanu in the team, despite what people are saying. We still need Mikel Obi no matter his erratic attitude, we need him in the team.
I don’t think there was a problem with selection. The biggest problem was commitment. If the players had more commitment, we could have scored more goals . The good thing about Amodu is that he is sending the message that no player is indepensable.
let the first eleven be, Enyeama,Uche. Nsofor, Odemwinge, Kanu, Etuhu, Kalu Uche, Mikel Obi, Taiwo,Yobo, Echejiene, .These team can absorb pressure any time any day.
we need Mikel,Yobo,Ogbuke Obasi and Tiawo for this crucial match.The match will end 3-2 in favour of Nigeria.Note these are experiencd players who can sook pressure.thanks.
Good day Nigerians,and happy good returns, I’m very happy regards to last world cup qualifying match we had with Harambee stars of Kenya,and also using this media urging the Super Eegles’s manager to works very hard on the mid-field,cos what I saw last sunday was’nt okey.And moreover shuffle the home base with foreign base players,in other to have a good record after the match in Tunis.From Madrid,Spain.
We just need a few changes in the team. Goalie is ok but the stage seem to be too big for elderson. TT should come in for him. Kanu the old war horse is still very relevant. We saw his contributions when he was brought in against Kenya.
If Nigeria can raise their game on june 20 with a right attitude we can get a surprise result…… I predict Tun 1 : Nig–4
kingsley
from escravos
Our defense is a disgrace…..if we allow it to penetrated like it did against kenya, Tunisia will end up scoring three times….
Good day fellow nigerians, i cant belived that nobody is talking about Chinedu Obasi. For me, I think he is the best player we have corently in Nigeria. I will like Amadu to inviet him if he is not jet back or to play him if he is there. I bet,Nigeria will win Tunisia atlist 1- 0. From Germeny.
Good day fellow nigerians, i cant belived that nobody is talking about Chinedu Obasi. For me, I think he is the best player we have corently in Nigeria. I will like Amadu to inviet him if he is not jet back or to play him if he is there. I bet Nigeria will win Tunisia atlist 1- 0. From Germeny.
mikel can’t hold shit..and etuhu is a poor man’s version of mikel obi….you can trust mikel with the ball at his feet …but working hard to retrieve the ball from an opponent clearly is the forte of sanni kaita…
juggle your midfield as much as u want but without the wood carriers and the water fetchers …you will lose against a good team
Mikel Obi should be brought in to play the holding role as he did successfully for Chelsea, he should be joined with the combative energy of Etuhu to break the attcking treats of the Tunisian, while the experience of Kanu will be required to slow down the pace of the opposition. Pls let Taye Taiwo comes in foe Echiejile.