Super Eagles’ immediate past coach, Samson
Siasia, failed to qualify Nigeria for the 2012 African
Cup of Nations because luck was against him.
This is the submission of Nigerian former
defender, Kingsley Onye, during an exclusive chat
with him from his base in London.
“I think Siasia did his best,” Mature, as Onye is
popularly called, quipped.
“He failed not because he is a bad coach but ill
luck. We all knew what he has achieved with the
youth teams in the past. He is one of the best
coaches in Africa, but it was unfortunate that the
god of soccer was not on his side on the last day
of the qualifiers. What happened to him could
have equally happened to some of the best
coaches in the world, including Mourinho,
Ferguson and Wenger.
There is nothing they could have done about it.
Besides, officials of the Nigeria Football Federation
were parts of his problems. They knew that with
2-1 we could have still qualified for the Nations
Cup, yet they pressurised Siasia to score more
goals. It was in the course of pushing his boys
for more goals that the Guineans’ equaliser came.
“I expect him to accept his sack in good faith, put
the sad experience behind him and move on in
his coaching career. He is a big name in African
football and I am confident he will soon pick
another job. I have a feeling that he would return
as Nigeria’s coach in the near future,” Onye, who
was a member of the Flying Eagles squad that
particpated in the 1985 FIFA Under-20 World Cup
in Russia, noted.
