7 June 2011
Samson Siasia admits that his Super Eagles were luck to come away with a draw from Sunday’s 2012 African Nations Cup qualifier against Ethiopia.
Joseph Yobo scored a late game-tying goal as the Super Eagles struggled to hit the heights of their previous performances under Siasia.
“We were lucky to get a draw,” Siasia conceded. “We didn’t play like we normally do and we paid for it.
“Tactically we didn’t do very well, we were very sluggish and did not pass the ball with our normal sharpness.
“We could have lost and I don’t think we could have argued with that.”
The Ethiopians launched long balls at the Nigeria defence which the visitors struggled to cope with and Siasia conceded that it was a problem.
“These guys played long balls and we struggled to handle it. It was a very difficult game, with the altitude, tiredness from the trip and so on.”
But Siasia commended his players for showing character to get at least a point.
“Sometimes when things are not going your way, it is easy for players to lose their composure. But we kept pushing and the boys showed a lot of character.”
Meanwhile, captain Joseph Yobo, who scored the all important second goal, refused to take the easy way out.
“As a team we did not play well, and we gave away two sloppy goals, but we can’t make excuses. It doesn’t matter what happens, when we get on the pitch we have to give our best, but today, our best was not good enough.”
Vice captain Vincent Enyeama equally put his hands up.
“Even though we were not at our best, they did not create any chances, but we gave them two goals. But we can’t make excuses. The game is over; we have to look forward to the next one and correct our mistakes.”
Striker Obinna Nsofor, who obviously suffered from fatigue with miscontrolled balls and mislaid passes, also took responsibility.
“The weather was fantastic, especially when it rained and we should have taken advantage. But we can’t blame anything; we have to accept that we should have done better.”
In truth it was a poor game overall for the Super Eagles until the last 20 minutes as they chased a goal.
With Victor Anichebe having fitness issues, and Emmanuel Emenike down with a fever, Peter Utaka was handed a start in the lone striker position.
But a midfield with heavy legs struggled to feed his supply line in a slumber-inducing first 10 minutes. It was the hosts who woke up first, a long punt over the top finding Saladin Said between Joseph Yobo and Efe Ambros after Ahmed Musa ceded possession in the middle.
The pacy forward raced past both centre backs and hit a shot from point blank range that was bound for the top right hand corner, until Enyeama somehow contrived a miracle one-handed save to his left that evoked memories of David Seaman.
Yobo reacted quickly to mop up the striker’s rebound.
The Nigerians were being overwhelmed and after another raid ended in a goal kick, Enyeama took his sweet time replacing his boots to allow his outfield players time to catch their breath.
AllAfrica – All the Time