Siasia gutted over shift in friendly

i

Samson Siasia © Shengolpix

Head coach of Nigeria, Samson Siasia, has expressed disappointment at the postponement of the international friendly match between the Super Eagles and their Guatemalan counterparts earlier billed to hold on March 9. In a telephone interview with SuperSport.com on Wednesday, the Nigerian coach said the shift from the initial date of February 9 to 29 makes nonsense of all the efforts that he and his backroom staff have put in to convince players to play for the country. “I must tell you that I am very disappointed with the way things have turned out concerning the friendly match (against Guatemala). The situation makes total nonsense of preparations we have made with the players. Especially players we have got commitments from outside of the country to play for us,” lamented the 43-year-old coach.
Siasia, however, refused to be critically of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) saying that he expects the FA to organise tune-up games for his team during free windows of the world soccer governing body, Fifa, as agreed prior to his taking up the job.
“The federation agreed to handle the organising of friendly matches for my team. That is what they promised me. So I will be waiting for such when the next Fifa free window comes up,” said Siasia.
Media officer of the Nigerian FA, Ademola Olajire, has been quoted as saying that the shift in the Guatemala friendly to the next Fifa window in March is due to fears nursed by the investors over harmful media reports surrounding football matters in the West African nation.
“We have been forced to postpone the game to the next Fifa window on March 29.
“The investors were uncomfortable about the spate of negative media reports and were not prepared to put down over $200 000 with all that uncertainty,” Olajire said.

© SuperSport.com