BY JACOB AJOM
Austin Akosa was shell-shocked when he heard the news of Eagles failure to beat Guinea in the last qualifier for the Nations Cup. “I can’t believe it. It is unimaginable,” was the first statement he made, as he drove along the refurbished Orile/Mile 2 road.

Akosa said the team’s failure speaks volumes of Coach Samson Siasia as a manager. “The players could have won the match if they wanted to,” he said, adding, “from the report I got, it was possible for the Eagles to have won the match. I think it shows that some of the players were not happy to play.”

Akosa said the coach took very simple matters too far, mentioning the coach’s problems with some of his key players in the squad.

“He should have tread gently and behave like a father. Siasia was a player and how disciplined was he when he was playing?”

He said Nigeria’s non-qualification for the Nations Cup was a dent on the country’s image and suggested that the only way forward is for the Nigeria Football Federation to bring together football experts in the country to look at the problems militating against the growth of the game in the country.

“The situation right now is disturbing. It really shows that our football is going down. The NFF must move fast to stem the tide, particularly, with the Olympic qualifiers still ahead