Posted by By Sunday Akintoye on
Chief Coach of the Under 23 Eagles, Samson Siasia, has declared that his team will beat the USA in their last group match on Wednesday, to avoid early clash with Argentina in the quarter-final of the soccer event of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Chief Coach of the Under 23 Eagles, Samson Siasia, has declared that his team will beat the USA in their last group match on Wednesday, to avoid early clash with Argentina in the quarter-final of the soccer event of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Siasia's team had in the first match played a goalless draw with Holland, and beat Japan 2-1 to garner four points in Group B. Victory for Nigeria against the USA in the last match will see them topping the group.
Siasia, who was full of praises for his team's 2-1 victory over Japan, said their next match against the USA is a must-win battle for them in order to avoid Argentina in the quarter-final.
'Our last match against the USA is a must-win for us to remain in Tianjin. We cannot afford to place second in the group because we don't want to meet Argentina now. That is why I've been telling my boys to go all out against the USA and win the match. I believe it is achievable,' Siasia said on Star FM's Mega Sports, early today.
The former Super Eagles star said that playing Argentina in the quarter-final is too early, saying that he prefers meeting them in the semi-final or in the final.
He noted that it will be tough if Nigeria play Argentina at the quarter-final stage of the tournament. On the team's performance against Holland and Japan, the dark-skinned coach said he was satisfied with his players' performance.
'We had tough games against Holland and Japan. Most of the mistakes we made in our previous matches will be corrected in our next game. I expect a better performance in our subsequent game. We only need prayers from Nigerians to succeed,' he said.