Siasia's Headache: Coach Laments Dearth Of Quality Midfielders In Eagles

In Siasia’s estimation, the Walya Antelopes outplayed his team in the midfield and that made his heart beat uncontrollably for greater part of the encounter in Abuja.

“I’m glad we won, but the Eagles are not there yet. I have seen a great problem in the team, we don’t have enough players who can hold the ball very well in the midfield. This is my headache for now,” Siasia said after the match in Abuja.

In terms of top Nigerian players, Siasia had some of the best that the country can boast of for the clash with the Antelopes. The yearning of millions of soccer loving Nigerians for years has been to see the squad scoring many goals, and the Joseph Yobo-led team achieved the feat, netting four unreplied goals against the visitors.

Apart from Siasia’s employers, the officials of Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, who gave the Eagles a pass mark after the tie, thousands of fans who stormed the Abuja National Stadium Sunday night mobbed the players and sang various victory songs to celebrate the thrashing of the Antelopes.

While the Eagles continue to get praises from all and sundry, Siasia says his team did not do enough and rated their overall performance very low.

“The Eagles struggled in the midfield because they were not returning back on time. We had only two midfield players, John Mikel Obi and Joel Obi. The Ethiopians had more players in that area and that gave them better possession,” admitted Siasia after the Nations Cup Group B match.

Continuing, Siasia said the Eagles changed the game a little and that was why the team did better in the midfield when the technical crew changed the formation.

“We asked Obinna Nsofor to play a bit deep in the midfield. All the same, the Ethiopians gave us a good game. They kept possession, while we were doing the scoring. It is better to score more goals than keeping possession anyway.

“The idea was to move forward and create more chances and try to score goals. We did what we were supposed to do and I think the match was won at the end of the day.”

Siasia added: “We scored more goals which would help us in the future. So, if we keep repeating what we have been doing in training and match situations, we will get better.

“We don’t have enough time to practice before games but as long as we come three, four days before a game, we will work more on what we are doing and keep our tactical discipline.

“We must create more chances at goal and make sure we do a little better in the midfield. I think that will help us as the qualifiers get tougher.”

The Eagles, however defeated Kenya’s Harambee Stars 3-0 in a friendly match played at the Abuja National Stadium yesterday to consolidated on their recent victories in international football. Ahmed Musa opened scoring for Nigeria, while Victor Anichebe and Ike Uche were also on target.