President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji
Ibrahim Musa Gusau MON, on Monday assured ball fans, administrators and
Nigerians in general that the football-governing body will adequately prepare
the various National Teams to bring joy and glory to the nation in the coming
year.
While reflecting on the outgoing year 2024 and
projecting for the coming year 2025, Gusau, still delighted with the Super
Eagles’ nonchalant dismantling of Ghana’s Black Galaxies to qualify for the 8th African
Nations Championship, disclosed that the focus of the NFF is on ensuring the
adequate preparation of all National Teams to credibly compete for honours at
major tournaments, and not simply turn up to make up the number.
“The era of Nigerian teams arriving at major
championships just to participate is gone. Our objective now is to ensure that
our teams can strongly contend for honours anywhere, and that can only be done
by preparing the teams well ahead of qualifiers and competitions. I personally
insisted that the Super Eagles B start their camping early enough and the
result is what we can see in their display against Ghana.
“The team has just one month to go before the CHAN
tournament. That means they must go into camp immediately, and we will ensure
that.”
Gusau remarked that the outgoing year saw some
impressive outings by the National Teams, though he is of the view that the
Super Eagles’ under-par run in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers has been a
source of worry to administrators, enthusiasts and fans alike.
“Our commitment is to see how we can cobble back that
Super Eagles squad that did the nation proud at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire,
coming within 23 minutes of lifting the trophy. If we can find a way to do
that, we can be sure that the target of winning the six remaining matches in
the qualifiers to gain automatic qualification to the World Cup is achievable.
“Getting that FIFA World Cup ticket will set the
momentum for a sterling outing at the AFCON in Morocco later in the year.”
The NFF supremo also assured that the Super Falcons,
who finished the year 2024 as Africa’s best-ranked team, will be afforded
adequate preparation to reclaim the Women Africa Cup of Nations title in
Morocco next summer.
“We are in the process of organizing more friendly
games for the team, in order to properly blend the old and new players to a
formidable squad that will conquer Africa in style.”
While praising the junior women national teams
(Falconets and Flamingos) for their qualifications and participations at their
different FIFA World Cup competitions this year, Gusau charged the girls to see
the coming year as a period of consolidation, with the FIFA U17 Women’s World
Cup finals becoming an annual event.
“The Flamingos, no doubt, have the ability to conquer
the world. I have watched their matches and seen some real great talents who
can even hold their own in the Super Falcons. However, we want to see them
conquer the world in Morocco and bring home the U17 Women’s World Cup for the
first time. The Falconets also have qualification matches to the 2026 FIFA U20
Women’s World Cup to deal with.
“For sure, it is a very busy year for us and for world
football. The NFF is committed to working closely with the National Sports
Commission to realize our goals and objectives, and also seek greater corporate
support for our activities, programs and events. Our attention will remain on
developing the game from the grassroots while ensuring that the production
channels for players coming through to the National Teams are not disrupted.”
PHOTO 2: Gusau (left) with the DG of NSC,
Olopade and NFF GS Sanusi at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on Saturday.
PHOTO 1: Super Eagles’ defender Ifeanyi
Onyebuchi stops Ghana’s Albert Amoah in Saturday’s CHAN qualifier in Uyo, which
Nigeria won 3-1.
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