By Olasunkanmi Akoni
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, joined the rest of Nigerians in  congratulating the players and coaching crew of the Super Eagles, for emerging winners of the 2013 Orange African Nations Cup, even as he called for the continuous appointment of indigenous coaches to manage all the national teams.

Fashola  in his congratulatory message, commended the team for their resilience, determination and team work displayed throughout the competition.

According to him, “despite the fact that the team was not given any chance of excelling by many Nigerians at the commencement of the competition, the team was still resolute in its determination to succeed”.

“It was noteworthy that not only did Nigeria emerge as the champion; it also produced the golden boot winner in Emmanuel Emenike, the fair play winner of the competition in Victor Moses and the Most Valuable player in the Cup final match in Mikel John Obi.”

On the support for indigenous coaches, he said “the victory has vindicated his position that Nigerian coaches have got the managerial ability to coach our national teams to success but only need to be given the right atmosphere and motivation to perform.”

He reiterated that Coach Stephen Keshi demonstrated with his inclusion of 17 debutant players in the Nation’s Cup team including five home-based that there is abundance of talents in the country who are only waiting to be given the opportunity to excel.

While congratulating the coach and his assistants for a job well done, the Governor expressed the hope that the victory would be a starting point for the team in planning for a successful outing at the forthcoming Confederations Cup in Brazil this year and also qualifying the country for a successful campaign in the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014

He added that if the understanding already being enjoyed in the team is allowed to reach its full bloom; the Nigerian National team will become a force to reckon with in a matter of time.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.