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Friday, November 20, 2009
Draws hold today, Nigeria to camp in S'Africa
- NFF kicks against foreign coach
EAGER to correct the lapses that nearly derailed the Super Eagles' bid to for the 2010 World Cup, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has opted for the team's early preparation for Angola 2010 Africa Nations Cup.
To that extent, the body has picked South Africa, which shares the same weather conditions with Angola, as Nigeria's training camp as the build-up is slated to begin in earnest. An official of the body, Emma Attah, told goal.com that the team would set up a residential training camp in South Africa from December 28, just as the NFF has approved the programme submitted by coach Shaibu Amodu.
The tournament kicks off on January 10 in Luanda, Angola, as Nigeria aims to win its first title since 1994. Nigeria is not seeded for the 2010 Nations Cup after it was dumped in the quarter-final of the tourney by host, Ghana, last year. The 2010 Nations Cup draws will take place in Angola today.
Meanwhile, Amodu has lashed out at those asking that he be fired despite helping Nigeria to qualify for next year's World Cup. Amodu made history when he became the only coach to lead Nigeria to two World Cup qualifications - 2002 and 2010 - but there has been clamour for him to be replaced by a foreign coach ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations in January as questions persist about his tactics and team selection.
He asked: "How many teams in the world play 10 matches and don't drop a game? To now ask whether I should stay or not is not correct," Amodu told Nigerian sports radio, Brila FM.
"I was given a mandate to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup, and I have done that. Is it a problem to coach Nigeria? People should know I have a life, I have a family."
In 2001, Amodu became the first Nigerian coach to qualify the African nation to a World Cup. However, he fell out with the authorities soon after the 2002 Nations Cup in Mali and was replaced by Adeboye Onigbinde for the finals in Korea and Japan.
Amodu has now advocated continuity, arguing that the team that qualified the country to the World Cup should feature at the Nations Cup in Angola and thereafter at the World Cup. The NFF is said to be against the plan by the Presidential Task Force to engage a foreign coach on its behalf.
"It is the responsibility of the NFF to appoint a coach, local or foreign, and not any other group," an official said. "Where will the loyalty of the foreign coach they want to appoint be, with them or with the NFF?"
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