By Ime Bassey

Super Eagles goal keeper trainer, Ike Shorunmu has urged Nigerians not to underrate the home Eagles ahead of the Rwanda tie in Kigali on February 29.

The former number one choice goalkeeper said that the glorious ’94 squad took Clemens Westerhof almost a decade to build.

He pleaded with Nigerians to give the technical crew and the boys’ time to synergize.  “I do not want people to believe that the home boys cannot deliver. They should remember that those that are playing outside the shores of the country, in one way or the other, plied their trade here before hitting it big in Europe, even we too that are coaches now.

“So, all that is needed is just time. When we allow time to make the boys blend together, then we will have another team that we will not forget easily. In our time when Westerhof was in charge, it took us almost a decade to become a team,” Shorunmu said.

“We are in a rebuilding process and nobody should expect immediate transformation. We cannot go else where to get the boys when we have them hear in the league.

All we are trying to do now is to build confidence in them and allow for them to gather experience from matches with decent sides in Africa,” Shorunmu pleaded.

He also spared his thought on the on-going Nations Cup without the Super Eagles thus: “It has come and it will go. We will only feel the pain now but after the tournament, we will forget it fast. Notwithstanding, all we need to do is look ahead to the future,” Shorunmu added.