Nwosu, Erico elated by U-23 Eagles’ exploits despite poor preparation

Following the performances of the Under-23 Eagles in the football event at the Olympics in Brazil, former Super Eagles Captain, Henry Nwosu, has expressed surprise at the exploits of the Coach Samson Siasia-led team.

The team qualified for the next round of the event after defeating Japan 5-4 on Friday and Sweden by a lone goal yesterday.Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, the former Under-17 national coach said despite the shoddy preparation and the crises, which dogged the team, the team was still able to put up sterling performances against their opponents.

“The team has really surprised me and I am yet to come to terms that our Dream Team has actually qualified for the next round after just two matches. Imagine! They were still able to rise above these challenges. We must commend them for a job well done. What we need to do now is to continue to pray for them.

“I guess Coach Siasia must have told them to play their heart out and make names for themselves. They also tried to play for the coach as well. The way the players played actually show lots of determination on their part,” he said.

Nwosu, however, admonished the players not to relent in their efforts to prove a point, regardless their past challenges. “They must make sure that they win the next matches. They should not relax because they won two matches and behave as if they have arrived and rubbish everything. They should understand that the more they progress the tougher their opponents will be.”

Commenting also on the exploits of the Dream Team at the Olympics, former Assistant Coach of Super Eagles, Joe Erico, urged caution if they are to make meaningful impact.

According to him, “The results of the matches played so far are good omen for us, but let us see how the team progresses before we say uhuru. The boys should take the match one after the other. The fact that the team did not concede goals unlike the first match showed that they have tightened up their defence. Work still needs to be done by Siasia before we can start talking about achieving something in Brazil,” he concluded.