2010 World CupEagles told to buckle up

The ex-internationals made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos yesterday.Paul Hamilton, a former Super Eagles Coach, said that the money given to the team by FIFA should be used for the preparation. “The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) should start preparing the team for the World Cup in […]

The ex-internationals made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos yesterday.Paul Hamilton, a former Super Eagles Coach, said that the money given to the team by FIFA should be used for the preparation.

“The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) should start preparing the team for the World Cup in earnest.“It is only by starting preparation early that the Super Eagles can qualify from the group’s preliminaries at the World Cup,’’ he said.

Victor Ikpeba, a former Monaco player, called for injection of quality players from the Under-20 World Cup team and the FIFA U-17 World Cup team.“Only a balanced team with players that are tactically disciplined can qualify from the group behind Argentina, a favourite for the World Cup trophy.

“The former European and Asian Champions, Greece and Korea Republic, are not easy teams but with adequate preparation, we will qualify from the group,’’ Ikpeba said.Felix Owolabi, a member of the team that won the 12th Africa Cup of Nations, said the NFF should hire an experienced coach so that Nigeria would advance from the group stage.

Owolabi advised the NFF to focus more on raising a formidable team and hiring a good coach and less on the group pairing.“The group pairing is not a big deal. The NFF should ask if we have the players that can deliver in South Africa in 2010.

“Do we have the coach that can deliver next year in South Africa? If the answer is no, the time to start planning is now.“We should use the Nations Cup to prepare for the World Cup because Angola will be tough while South Africa will be more difficult,’’ he said. (NAN)