Nigeria: Adepoju Hails Eagles, Joel Obi, Ike Uche

Daily Independent (Lagos)

Tony Ezimakor

29 March 2011

Abuja — Ex-Super midfielder Mutiu Adepoju has commended coach Samson Siasia and his new look Eagles for four goals rout of Ethiopia which he said are no push-overs despite the wide goals margin.

He singled out the duo of Inter Milan gifted midfielder Joel Obi and Real Zaragoza linchpin Ikechukwu Uche for special mention while commending them for their sterling contributions on the day. Adepoju noted that Obi’s performance was particularly noteworthy considering that he was making his competitive debut and just two caps with the senior national adding that the new kid on the block has shown a lot of promise for his age and experience.

“I am particularly impressed with Joel Obi and Ikechukwu; Uche is making a comeback after a long injury lay off and yet he came in and did what he knows how to do best, scoring two brilliant goals for the Super Eagles. That shows he is a class performer. Obi is just having his second game with the Super Eagles and he played very well. This goes to show that he still has a lot to give the national team in the future,” stated Adepoju.

The Shooting Stars General Manager maintained that it would be wrong to dismiss the Ethiopian opposition because of the high goal margin pointing out that the visitors were indeed no push-overs during the match.

“I don’t think the four goals was a result of weak opposition; come to think of it, the Ethiopians are no push-overs at all. They played very well and were very fast going forward. I think the Eagles were just good on the day”.

While commending coach Siasia and his lads Adepoju maintained that a lot still need to be done in all department of the team to boost present performance.

“I think it was a brilliant performance but a lot still need be done; the team needs to play more games and get the needed blending and understanding. Siasia has a lot of options; Joel and Mikel played well in the middle. Uche kalu is also there, so the more matches they play the better the entire team gets. But I think it is a good start,” he said.

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