Thursday, December 24, 2009

Amodu says Eagles need strong mentality to face World Cup opponents


Super Eagles coach,Shuabi Amodu has admitted that the national team need to build a strong mental capacity to overcome the challenges at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.


Amodu ,who was speaking at the Tom Tom interactive forum with Sports Editors in Lagos on Wednesday said that the team is one that is evolving from a gradual build up and has demonstrated a character that gives a lot of hope for the future.




"I can say that we have a team. The team is still evolving into a better squad. We may not have played the best of football but we have maintained a winning record which we can build on. It is not easy to play without losing. Sometimes we found some games difficult and most times we come up strong and win. There must be something good about this team.


"We can use the Nations Cup to prepare the team for the World Cup.


Amodu appealed to the media and Nigerians to be mindful of the way they criticis the team as it affects the psyche of the players and officials.




"I want to appeal to Nigerians to rally round the team. What we say and report about the team sometime tells of their psyche. I am confident we have a team. The players want to do this nation proud. But they need the strong mentality to confront the opponents at the World Cup. They need the support of everybody to achieve that.


Explaining the choice of Durban, for the pre-championship camping, Amodu said that the South African city was chosen ahead of Namibia which was an earlier choice because of the quality of facilities.


"We did not change the camping venue like that. We had Durban as plan B.


After we inspected the facilities in Namibia, we discovered that we may need to put the venue in right condition to suit us. We also considered the weather in Durban, it was almost the same with what we will meet in Angola and the facilities the same as where we will play. So it was a matter of making the best choice. This is why we dumped Namibia.


He further disclosed that the Nigeria Football) NFF) are considering the possibility of flying the team to Angola by a chartered flight.


"Our plan is to see if we can charter a flight to Angola for our first match against Egypt. I think we can do well. We need to believe in ourselves and remain focused, "he said.


Amodu revealed that the Eagles will play at least a friendly before the Nations Cup but added that it may not be a big team. He described it as a practice match.


Daily Champion


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