Super Eagles Can Deliver WAFU Cup

After winning two matches in the group stage, coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Samson Siasia is confident that his team are back for real to win the WAFU Cup. In this interview with SUNDAY AKINTOYE, the former Nigerian international spoke about his team’s performance in the ongoing tournament

How would you assess your team in the last two matches in Group A?

Actually, I will say our opening match against Liberia was not too impressive. My players did not play to expectations. I expected this because they had not been training together before our first match.

How many times did the players train together before the first match against Liberia?

We trained once and don’t forget that the Nigeria Premier League is still on break. This really contributed to the average performance of the players in that match.

There was no doubt that your boys played to expectations against Niger Republic judging from the score line. What’s the secret?

There is no secret than the fact that after our match against Liberia, the players realised that the need to step up their game if they want to go far in this tournament. I am happy that their second match was a good one and I want to say that the players played to instructions against Niger Republic which yielded a good result at the end of the day.

Which match gave you a tough time between the game with Liberia and Niger Republic?

It is obvious that Liberia put up a good performance by creating many chances in the second half. It was a difficult match for my players because they were not prepared very well. I think we did not have much problem against Niger Republic compared to our first match.

Do you think Nigeria stand a chance to win the cup for the second time?

We have a better chance to win the WAFU Cup. We are not going to complacent in our remaining matches because we all know that every team also want to win the WAFU Cup.

Ghana said they are in Nigeria to win WAFU Cup, how would you react to this?

A lot of Nigerians are saying that Ghana will stop us. Every country is a favourite to win the competition. We are not afraid of Ghana or Togo in our semi final.