By John Egbokhan
Former Chairman of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Col Abdulmumuni Aminu (rtd), has said coach Shaibu Amodu must pull out all the stunts in his hat to ensure that Super Eagles reclaim their lost glory by winning next year’s African Cup of Nations.

With the biggest soccer tournament on the continent starting on January 10 in Luanda, Angola, the Super Eagles are in a race against time to present a crack team for the nearly month-long soccer feast, which they would be hoping to win for the third time, after triumphs in 1980 and 1994.

After a rather topsy-turvy ride to the qualifying series which culminated in the team’s qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa on the final day, coach Amodu has come under a barrage of flaks for what critics say is his low technical depth, with some calling for his outright dismissal by the nation’s soccer governing body.

But after the Executive Committee ruled that Amodu would tinker the team to the Nations Cup, while still leaving room for the employment of a foreign technical adviser should the need crops up, Aminu, has said that Amodu must get cracking now because of the shortness of time.

“Amodu has been offered another chance to prove to Nigerians that he is capable of turning our players into a winning side, who would not only delight us but also instill fear in the mind of our opponents at the Nations Cup. This is a chance of a lifetime for him to show that he has what it takes or else, he might be starting at the exit door.

“We have talented players in this country and it is up to Amodu to make the right picks and give them the correct instructions because we can win the Cup if the right things are done. He has the boys at his disposal and it is up to him to make the right selection and provide the strategy to make the players deliver”, added Aminu, a member of the Presidential Task Force set up to ensure the qualification of the Super Eagles for the World Cup.