Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia, Wednesday eased the pressure on under-fire Sunday Rotimi, by insisting the Dolphin of Port Harcourt goalkeeper was not responsible for Nigeria's 3-2 loss to Togo in the final of the WAFU Cup.
Nigeria's anticipated victory party was botched after Togo were 'gifted' three cheeky goals by stand in captain Rotimi, in the final played last Sunday at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta.
Rotimi was largely touted to be in the frame for the national No 3 goalkeeper slot, behind the established Vincent Enyeama and Dele Aiyenugba.
While it appears his chances of making the Nigerian squad to be named Thursday for the games against Argentina and Ethiopia are narrow, Siasia outright refused to be drawn into guessing about the future of the keeper, capped 10 times at the full level.
“I won't blame Rotimi. The loss was a collective mistake. Sometime you have an off day as a goalkeeper; that was what happened to him. Though he committed some howlers, he also pulled some saves superb that still put us in the match towards the end of the match. We have to give him credit for that. Mistake is part of football,” Siasia said. Before the WAFU Cup, Rotimi last appeared between the posts for the Eagles in 2005, and only recently tried to inch back to international consciousness after he had been long forgotten.
While Siasia agreed that two of the goals appeared soft, he said one of the outfit players was liable for conceding the foul that led to the third goal.
“I said it was a collective error because the foul that led to the final goal was needless. Why should that defender commit an infringement on the Togolese when it was not necessary? That is why I refuse to blame the goalkeeper.”
No comments:
Post a Comment