The NFF President and as well Fifa Council member, Amaju Pinnick has reacted immediately after the Nigeria match versus Mexico that ended 4-0 in favor of Mexico
The NFF supremo revealed that he is not disappointed by the result rather, he’s more impressed by the performance of the boys as there are many positives to take from the match
While reacting to the loss, Pinnick said, “I am not disappointed at all with the result, rather I am more impressed by the dexterity of the boys, their resilience and the ‘never say die spirit of Nigeria displayed by the boys.
“the stringing of their passes were sublime, exuded an appreciable level of confidence and that is the positives from the match. He posited
“The exposure the boys got from a match of that magnitude cannot be undermined.
“The stadium was 90% filled by the Mexicans and this is the first time the boys will be playing a high-profile match like that and irrespective of the result. In spite of the fact that the Mexican team is ranked 11th in the World, the time difference and the Super Eagles just trained twice and playing together for the first time, they held their own and made us proud, they were able to play good football.”
The astute sports administrator continued by assuring Nigerians that the boys will be given more friendly matches in the nearest future.
“The boys will play more friendly matches by October, to give them more exposure, by then their confidence level will be higher and they will be able to know what it takes to play high profile matches like that. We are not going to dissolve the team, the boys will be kept together and I’m waiting for the technical report from the technical team and from there we take it further.”
“The Essence of this match is to give the home-based players exposure and I want to reiterate that the NPFL teams are not bad with the level they played against the Mexicans, the Mexicans Captain plays in Athletico Madrid, they have players from Napoli and other top teams in the world and they are CONCACAF defending champions preparing to play another tournament. Our boys were assembled in two weeks and they were able to hold their own on the pitch against Mexico, we must commend them and give them credit for what they’ve done.”
“I got calls from colleagues from different parts of the world commending the boys asking if they are my Team A. I told them they are home-based players and praises were showered on them. This is an affirmation of how well they played.”
“This is not time to condemn the team but to support these boys and give them more exposure. One to three of these boys will make it to the Super Eagles in the nearest future.”
The FIFA Council member also shed more light on the Female team, the Super Falcons.
“The Super Falcons will be camping in Austria for 10 days, and return to partake in the Aisha Buhari Invitational Tournament. This is because continuity speaks volumes. They will be going back to the US to play more friendly matches. Part of our clear mandate is to give the National team quality friendlies and we will not stop doing so.”
“I want to use this medium to thank the Ministry who gave the support, the club owners who allowed their players to be part of this friendly, and as well the LMC who oversees the league. Every one of them played a pivotal role to ensure the success of this friendly and we will not be discouraged by side comments but rather we will keep doing the needful.”
“To me, many positives must be taken from this friendly” Amaju concluded
