Published By News Editor
A former Super Eagles International goal keeper Idah Peterside has called on politicians and rich Nigerian philanthropists to stay away from the Super Eagles camp if they want to see the team go far and win the trophy in the ongoing AFCON tournament in Cameroon.
Peterside, who spoke in a Channels Television chat monitored in Lagos, on Thursday said this is the time for everyone to support the Super Eagles to win as doing otherwise may distract the attention of the boys.
He recalled an instance in 2010, when billionaire Chief Mike Adenuga, had stormed the camp and promised the players One Million Dollars if they win the match against Greece and after his departure, the players went back to their rooms sharing the money that they have not seen and eventually, this affected their focus and they lost the match and the money.
He said such should not be allowed to repeat itself, as politicians are likely to be jetting to Cameroon in their private planes to watch the boys play and to promise them largesse if they win.
He said: “Let the team managers shut the gates to the camp against these politicians and philanthropists. Let anyone who want to dole out money be doing it on television or radio or even the social media, but let them not have access to these boys until the game is over. At this stage, what the boys needs is absolute concentration and every exposure to distraction must be curtailed.”
Peterside, who was the nation’s number one keeper during his active days however admitted that this may be a hard task considering the political undertones it might have, but insisted the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) must put its foot down and ensure that the boys are not distracted from the task ahead.
He said the Austin Eguavoen led team has done so well for Nigeria, winning all the three games at the preliminary stages and collected all the nine points becoming a favourite team to win the trophy at the ongoing AFCON tournament.
He said the round of 16 is however a new ball game, adding that Malawi, the next team Nigeria is meeting may come with a surprise to sting the Super Eagles.
Malawi who is qualifying for the round of 16 has gone to show that there is no more minions in football, adding that though all must be done to win the match which would see Nigeria move forward in the tournament into the semi final stage.
Assessing the Super Eagles outing so far, Peterside said Austin Equavoen has proved his mettle with the performance of the Super Eagles. He said if the team beat Malawi, to move into the quarter final (the round of eight), the team can as well win the trophy.
He however listed four nations that Nigeria must watch out for and begin to prepare against; these nations he said are; Tunisia, Egypt, Cameroon, adding that that must be the reason why the coach has commenced practicing penalty kicks, because from this point on, the nature of the games changes.
He expressed a vote of confidence on the handlers of the Super Eagles, saying that Austin Eguavoen has restored the confidence of Nigerians in their national team and everything must be done to sustain the tempo and rhythm in the camp and continue to support the game to win the trophy.