Nigerian Football Federation’s technical committee chairman Chris Green says the choice of Guatemala as the next Super Eagles’ friendly opponents is not an act of desperation.

Green had said in December that the Super Eagles would only play against “category A” teams in friendly internationals.
Most cynics now conclude that reconciling that declaration with the current development was tantamount to a double-speak.

The NFF chief however disagrees, explaining that the reasons for selecting Guatemala were “purely in the best interest of Nigerian football”.

“Yes, we obviously want our Eagles to play against the best teams in the world but don’t forget that we are in the process of building a new team and it would be improper for us to start (playing friendlies) with the biggest of teams. It is in line with our policies to build gradually and build ahead of steam as we progress,” Green told SuperSport.com.

The game against Guatemala will be played at the Sun Life Stadium, Miami on February 9.

Europe-based professionals have been penciled to play the game while the initial plan of having the home based Eagles prosecute the Barack Obama invitational tournament in February still stands.

While admitting that the Guatemala game may not really test the Eagles to their limits, Green appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the NFF as “juicer” friendlies were been lined up for the team.

“Yes, we are looking at several juicy prospects and at the right time, we will let Nigerians know,” he said.

He also maintained that Nigeria’s current (32nd) position in the monthly Fifa rankings was also proving to be a stumbling block as regards attracting glamour opponents for friendly internationals.