LAGOS (AFM) - On Wednesday night, Nigeria and their new coach, Samson Siasia, played their first match in seven years in Lagos, the country’s commercial capital and one of its most notable football hotbeds. Siasia gave first caps to seven players including the exciting Inter Milan midfielder Joel Obi and Ekigho Ehiosun, leading scorer in the domestic league who posted a goal scoring debut. Despite some booing by the ever-demanding Lagos crowd late on, there were quite a few positives for the 43-year-old former international player Siasia to take from the absorbing 2-1 win over fellow west Africans Sierra Leone.
 
For his part, West Ham United striker Victor Obinna told African Football Media that the match signalled nothing less than a new beginning for a country whose full international team’s last major piece of silverware was the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia 17 years ago. “There is a new atmosphere, a new backroom staff, new players and a new manager. This is a fresh start for all of us,” remarked the 24-year-old Obinna, one of several key stars who watched the game from the stands because of a slight injury.

The right man for the job
Obinna first worked with Siasia in the Nigeria Under-20 team six years ago and he is in no doubt the charismatic Siasia is the right man to get the Eagles flying again. “Siasia is one of the best coaches I have worked under, and he has already proved himself by getting to the finals of both the U-20 World Cup in Holland in 2005 and the Beijing Olympics in 2008,” said Obinna, who is on loan from Inter Milan.

“I know the coach very well,” he continued. “He encouraged us when we first started out, and I believe he is the right man for the job. He won’t fail Nigerians. He will turn around the fortunes of the Eagles because he knows how to make his players work for the whole team. I am thrilled to play under him again.”
 
Obinna was the stand-out star at the Beijing Olympics playing alongside Peter Osaze Odemwingie, Femi Ajilore, Chibuzor Okonkwo and Victor Anichebe, who were all considered for Siasia’s first set of call-ups as Eagles coach. Olympique Marseille defender Taye Taiwo and Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi also featured for Siasia at the 2005 U-20 World Cup. Obinna was also a part of Nigeria's disappointing 2010 FIFA World Cup™ team, playing only 72 minutes over two matches.

Spirits high despite stumble
The bigger test than the Leone Stars for Siasia’s new Super Eagles will come at the end of next month when they host Ethiopia at the same 26,000-capacity Teslim Balogun Stadium in continuation of the qualifying series for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Nigeria are three points behind Group B leaders Guinea after a lone goal loss in Conakry in October.
 
Obinna said the players lacked focus during that match after a confusing time in which Nigeria's Football Federation was briefly suspended by FIFA. “We lost to Guinea for many reasons. In the days leading to the match, there was a point that all the players thought that the game had been shifted,” he explained. “I arrived in Nigeria on Monday while FIFA announced the ban the following day. Despite the  ban, we still trained on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
 
“By Thursday we didn’t hear anything and the news in the media was that Nigeria had been banned and that the match has been postponed. I rescheduled my flight to return to England only for us to be informed by Friday evening, the game for Sunday was back on ... And add all that to a bad pitch and hot, unfriendly weather, we were doomed.”
 
However, the West Ham star remains upbeat that Nigeria will book a ticket to the 2012 Nations Cup to be hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. “I strongly believe that we will qualify because we still have four matches to play,” said the forward who hopes to stay on in England at season’s end when his loan deal from Inter Milan is up. “We will make sure that when we play the other games against Guinea at home and the remaining home and away matches against Madagascar and Ethiopia, we will win very well.  I am confident we will win these matches to reach the Nations Cup.”

Copyright AFRICAN FOOTBALL MEDIA, 2011

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