Ben EFE

Newly appointed Eagles’ manager, Samson Siasia had better cook up a winning formula to take the national team to lofty heights at the 2012 Nations Cup or he would get the sack.

Samson Siasia

Nigeria Football Federation technical committee chairman, Chris Green disclosed that Siasia has been given a mandate not only to qualify the team for the Nations Cup, but to reach the semi-final otherwise there will be no renewal of his contract.

“He must qualify the Eagles for the Nations Cup and get to the semi- final. This is the precondition for renewing his contract.
“It is not just that, Siasia has been given a mandate to build a solid national team. We want to have a team of 22 talented players whether home base or foreign based,” said Barrister Green.

He noted that Siasia will enjoy the cooperation of the NFF in his job, but has to be very professional and wouldn’t give the NFF cause to interfere.

Siasia signed a four year contract and a code of conduct on Wednesday. He must now roll up his sleeve and begin to work starting with the international friendly against Iran November 17, where he would observe the team and take notes.

The Eagles lost to Guinea in the group B qualifiers of the Nations Cup. They need to win their remaining matches to be in contention for the Nations Cup to be hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

However, Siasia and his right hand man Simon Kalika, feel they are up to the challenge of repositioning the Eagles in continental and global soccer.
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This may look like a tall order or ambition but it is achievable. Everything is a matter of good and long planning. We need to start the job now and work on the likely players that can give us the result as well as make discoveries too.

“There are talents in the Nigerian local league but we only need time to work on them to become some of the best players around,” said Kalika.