By Eddie Akalonu
As Nigeria get set to lock horns with Russia in the first group match of the FIFA Beach Football World Cup which kicks off on Sptember 2 in Ravenna, Italy, former coach of the team Kelechi Emeteole has said that they can surpass the country’s previous outings in the competition if they work extra hard.

Speaking on telephone from his Owerri base, Emeteole said, “in football, nothing is impossible if you put your mind to do well. If they fight hard, they can get past our past achievements in the event or even add more,” he said confidently.

“When we debuted at the Beach World Cup,we knew practically nothing about this type of competition, especially the rules but we made up our mind to play, engaged a referee who told us things about Beach Football and by the time we went into competition against countries with that football culture at the World Cup proper, I think we gave them a hell of a time. We held our shoulders high at the end of the day going by the level we attained,” he said.

The former Heartland FC coach was full of hope the team would do well in Italy. He hinged this on the fact that a good number of players with experience still form part of the current team.

“Olawale is there and others. They can do well if they put their mind to it. But I regret that the country up till now did nothing to boost the game internally, like organising zonal competitions where I think new crop of players interested in Beach football could have emerged,”Emeteole said. Even though skeptics are of the opinion that the current squad may not go far in the competition, having lost the African crown to Senegal unexpectedly, coach Adamu Audu feels, stressing that the team hold promises

“We will do our best although it is a hard road to go out there. Despite falling to the Teranga Lions of Senegal in the Africa finals in Morocco,the Beach Eagles can still be regarded as a good side having won all their matches in the preliminary tournament, with 24 goals for and conceding just 20,”Audu disclosed.