There are strong indications that the wish of the Dream Team VI coach, Samson Siasia, to have some of the Under-20 team (Flying Eagles) stars in his squad for the tasks ahead has been granted by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Siasia, last week, made his intention known. He wants to beef up his team with the U-20 stars, especially those that excelled at the just-concluded FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.
Our source at the NFF secretariat in Abuja revealed that the leadership of the NFF gave its nod to the request, to support the team achieve success at the All Africa Games (AAG) scheduled for Congo Brazzaville in September and qualifiers for the Rio Olympics in 2016.
The source said: “We will do everything possible to ensure that the team achieves success at the tasks at hand; that is why we are going to support all the moves by the Dream Team VI coach.
“Moreover, the NFF leadership does not want the team to fail, thus the decision to grant the request of the coach and the technical crew.
Another reason, according to our source, that made the NFF leadership to grant the request was the fact that most of the Europe-based players already pencilled for the tasks may not honour the call as the tournament is not a FIFA tournament.
However, top on the list of players that Siasia wants is Taiwo Awoniyi, Musa Mohammed and probably the likes of Simon Moses and Kelechi Iheanacho.
Though the Flying Eagles failed to qualify for the quarterfinal of the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, pundits are of the view that the team parades some of the best hands the country can boast of and was just unlucky not to have scaled through to the quarterfinal.
President of the NFF, Amaju Pinnick, had commended the efforts of the team, insisting the boys were not disgraced.
He said: “When things turn out this way, we look at the positives. Which is why I will call on us all to congratulate this set of players who certainly made us proud.
“They played with finesse and grace; real potential for the future of our game. The crowd loved them at the two venues where they played, and the unity in the team showed in the way they conducted themselves all through the tournament.”
He was philosophical about the 0-1 defeat the team suffered in the hands of a compact Germany team in Christchurch which saw the Flying Eagles eliminated.
Before the second round defeat by the Germans, the Nigerian lads had lost their first group match to Brazil 2-4 but came back in the second game against Korea DPR to win 4-0 and bashed Hungary 2-0.
The NFF boss stated that the federation’s recent subscription to the latest and best football analysis software, ProZone, underscores the commitment of the new administration to take Nigeria football to another level.