Adisa canvasses support for Eagles

FORMER goalkeeper’s trainer of the Super Eagles, Amusa Adisa, has canvassed more support for the team and the technical crew to ensure a better outing for Nigeria in the on-going African Cup of Nations.

Adisa, who plied his trade with the Ibadan club, Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) Ibadan in the early 70s, described Super Eagles’ first outing against Burkina Faso as a good one, adding that most of the players used in the game had their debuts in the AFCON.

In a chat with The Guardian in Ilorin, he refused to blame anyone for the last minute equaliser by the Burkinabes in Monday’s duel against the Super Eagles. Instead, he believed that African football has grown in recent times, just as he ruled out the presence of minnows in the on-going competition.

According to him, “football is not an easy game. Besides, no nation can continually dominate the game irrespective of its present prowess in the game. Remember, it used to be Brazil, then West Germany, and Argentina. But today, it is Spain and tomorrow it could be Nigeria.

“So, we need to support our team and its leaders. If we continue to rely on what we once played against Burkina Faso where we drubbed them by seven goals to one, then we are living in the past. Nobody is a fool. Everybody now talks football, plays it across the world and has its own Lionel Messi.”

Adisa, while rating the Eagles as potential winner of the tournament, urged Nigerians not to expect fanciful games at this level of the tournament, saying the most essential thing are the points at stake to enable the Eagles sail into the next round of the event.

He believed that the team would perform better if the technical crew can adopt playing the wing pattern, “where goals are easily scored through pull outs from the wings. Goalkeepers are easily beaten from pull outs.”