Siasia: My U-23 Eagles Are Heroes

Nigeria U-23s coach Samson Siasia has praised his players for their heroic performance in Congo on Sunday. He said his boys played like true heroes and he is proud of them as they have also made him a proud coach and Nigerian.

The Nigerians held their hosts Congo to a goalless draw in Pointe Noire, thereby qualifying for the African U-23 Championship having won the first leg 2-1 in Port Harcourt.
Ex-Super Eagles star Siasia said he was satisfied with his players’ performance, although he would have liked them to score.

“Playing a match like this is always difficult, but then I knew our best tactics for this game was to go all out and attack, because if they scored a goal against us, we would be out of the race,” Siasia told the Nigeria Football Federation website.

“My boys did what I told them like real heroes, but then we missed a couple of clear chances that are unpardonable. However, we did the job and we are into the African U-23 finals.”
Disclosing that for now his plan is to give the boys some days break to relax before returning to Congo for the All Africa Games in September, Siasia said he knows his boys will get better after the Games as they will have the opportunity to play more competitive games and by the time they regroup for the African U-23 Championship in Senegal, the team would have become much stronger, ready to pick a ticket for the Rio Olympics.