Africa Press-Nigeria
Nigerian Federation boss Amaju Pinnick has warned the Super Eagles players and coaching staff led by Gernot Rohr that it won’t be business as usual after they were held to a 4-4 draw by Sierra Leone in Friday evening’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.
Pinnick urged the Super Eagles players to borrow a page from their captain Ahmed Musa who was visibly frustrated with the way the game panned out after his substitution and revealed that he will hold showdown talks with Rohr after the meeting in the dressing room.
“I am very emotional now, I feel very pained, I’m not going to lie to you. When I was coming I was told to cheer them up,” Pinnick told Super Eagles TV.
“No, I’m not going to cheer you up, I can’t cheer up and remain pained, let us suffer the emotions together. I can’t cheer anybody up, not anymore.
“I have told you and I mean it, if you go I’m going to be sitting with your coach, there are some things we are not going to accept anymore.
“When I saw your captain’s mood, I knew, because he’s one person that loves his country beyond comprehension, if everybody can demonstrate that, so please rotate the blame.”
Pinnick has mandated the players to go to Freetown and beat Sierra Leone by no less than four goals, adding that there are no top players in the ranks of the opponents apart from Minnesota United’s Kei Kamara whereas the Super Eagles play for top European clubs.
“But the beauty about falling down is to be resurgent enough to bounce back in grand style because what you have done to them is you’ve given them confidence Nigeria is beatable.
“We must re-engineer this team, we must go to Freetown, we must beat them in Freetown by these four goals that we’ll know truly the Eagles have landed.
“The highest player they have is Kei Kamara playing in Minnesota United.
“Leicester, Everton, Rangers – the biggest clubs. But the important thing is that we are Nigerians, even though we fall we always get up.
“Go to Freetown and win that game by 4-0, not three, I know why, it is very symbolic for us to win by 4-0 so that they will know that what happened in Nigeria was a fluke,” Pinnick concluded.
In the provisional standings of Group L of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, the Super Eagles lead the way with seven points after three games but second-placed Benin can close the gap to just one point if they win as expected against Lesotho this evening.
