Super Eagles head coach, Sunday Oliseh, has assured Nigerians that his team are focused and determined to make the country proud at the African Nations Championship in Rwanda.
Oliseh will be making his debut as coach of the Eagles in a major tournament at the CHAN billed the Central African nation from January 16 to February 7.
The former Eagles skipper had earlier suggested that his wards were in for a “fight” from other teams but declared the readiness of his side for the task ahead.
Oliseh who guided the Eagles ‘B’ team to two victories and a draw in three warm-up games said: “I can assure you that the boys are all committed and full of optimism.”
The team are rounding off their training programme in Pretoria on Thursday as they prepare for the trip to Rwanda Friday.
Oliseh refused to be definite on what to expect from the team as they face the other African teams in Rwanda but insisted that they were working hard to be the best.
The coach’s declaration was made just ahead of the statement of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) vehemently denying allegations that the Eagles were camping under poor conditions in South Africa.
It reads, “The Nigeria Football Federation has condemned, in strong terms, a report which detailed imagined ‘poor conditions’ in the camp of the Super Eagles B in Pretoria, South Africa.
“The report had talked of ‘inferior’ NIKE kits being used by the team at the pre-CHAN camp in Pretoria and unsubstantiated ‘distractions here and there,’ all attributed to a nebulous ‘highly placed source’.”
NFF’s Assistant Director (Communications), Ademola Olajire claimed that the report was deliberately done to cause disaffection and damage morale in the camp.
“The Super Eagles B delegation is heading to Rwanda on Friday. This report has come out at this time to demoralise players and officials ahead of the championship.”
Adding his voice, Media Officer of the team, Toyin Ibitoye, told thenff.com from Pretoria, “We don’t know where the story of ‘poor conditions’ is coming from. All the officials in camp have been commending the NFF for arranging for the team to train at such a world-class facility as the High Performance Centre in Pretoria.”
“The training kits are top-quality, so also the match jerseys which were brought in by the team administrator. They were kits supplied direct to the Federation by NIKE. The team trained in Abuja for two weeks before heading to Pretoria, and everyone saw the kits they used.”
