By Daily Sports on November 29, 2015

Ex-international Moses Kpakor has emphatically said that with the calibre of players head coach of the U- 23 Eagles listed for the ongoing Africa U-23 Nations Cup in Senegal, he believes that the Nigerian side will pick one of the slots for the upcoming Olympics in Rio, Brazil, in 2016.

He, however, acknowledged the prowess of other teams in their group and restated that neither Egypt nor Mali will stop the Samson Siasia-led side from going ahead.

“The players have pedigree and experience in their own right. They are young and ball jugglers, too. They are aware why they are in Senegal and no amount of distraction will stop them from accomplishing the task ahead of them. Moreover, the lads knew the gains of their being in Rio Olympics football event and so must redouble their efforts to ensure they secure a ticket. It won’t be a tea party but I am sure all hands are on deck,” Kpakor said.

He also said the team’s main focus must be to secure a slot to Rio, then if winning the championship comes all well and good.

“Without much ado, I know that the thinking of Siasia-led technical crew and their players centre on the target of qualifying for the Olympics and no doubt about that the team is focused on achieving that. The other teams in our group won’t be comfortable too. They will be playing mind game; however, U-23 Eagles have all it takes to qualify for the big Games football event,” he restated.

The former BCC Lions play maker urged the boys not to either over-rate or under rate any of their opponents, saying they should rather adopt the system of taking each match as it comes. He advised that over-confidence must be discarded, saying that once all this is done and they play their style of game based on the match plan of their coach, there would be nothing to stand between them and victory. Nigerians, he added, are solidly behind them and they owe them the ticket in return.

•Photo shows ex-international Moses Kpakor.

Source Daily Sports

Posted November 29, 2015

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