January 25, 2015 – Head Coach Samson Siasia has charged his U-23 National Team boys to show character and resilience when they take on the the U-23 National Team of Tunisia in a second international friendly match in Tunis on Wednesday.
“I don’t want to blame the players too much for the loss to the Tunisians in the first match on Saturday. Without appearing to be making excuses for them, we arrived in Tunis on Friday afternoon and immediately went to training but the weather did not help matters.
“Most of them were traveling outside the country for the first time and you can’t wish that away. The weather was a critical issue. However, in the first match, my assistants and I noticed a number of areas we need to improve on seriously before we can say we have a team.”
The Dream Team lost 3-5 to the Olympic Eagles of Tunisia at the Stade el Menzah, with the Nigerian goals from Etim Emmanuel and Junior Ajayi, who hit a brace. The team created a hatful of chances in the second half, after the first half ended 3-3, but were undone by poor finishing.
“We thank the NFF for organizing these matches because they will really help us prepare for the qualifiers against Gabon, and other matches in the race to the All-Africa Games and the 2016 Olympics. We will try a number of other players in the second match and see how things work out,” Siasia said after Sunday’s training session at the Stade November 7 in Rades, outside Tunis.
