Nigeria footballer of the year
2008-2009, man of the match
and scorer of two of
Nigeria’s goals against
Mozambique believes his
goals will help Nigeria in her
quest for their third CAF
Nations Cup.
" we started very badly
against Egypt, then we beat
Benin very unconvincingly,
to the point where some
even had the impression that
Mozambique could beat us. I
must confess that there was
a lot of tension in the camp,
the players were under a lot
of pressure and when we
came out against
Mozambique, we knew we
were condemned to win, and
win well. "
The Locomotiv Moscow of
Russia attacker said he could
not pass a fitness test
against Egypt, and it was
". . . not funny sitting on the
bench and watching Egypt
cancel our lead and go on to
beat us . the world thinks a
lot of us. As one of Africa’s
world cup qualifiers, we were
expected to do well and we
knew this.
" Even the victory against
Benin did not bring out the
expected confidence and we
had had to wait against
Mozambique to really
announce our entry into the
competition.
" My goals have brought out
our confidence. Now, we
believe we can go further to
win the cup. Now we know
that if we give it our all,
nobody can stop us. Nigeria
is a great football nation.
Anybody that wears the
national colours of green and
white, should be ready to
carry the weight of
responsibility that goes with
it"
Asked whether Nigeria will
prefer avoiding Cameroun in
the quarter finals, he said. "
i do not think Nigeria is
afraid of anybody. All we do
is that we respect teams,
just as they respect us. If
you look at the results
already achieved in this
competition, big teams have
been shocked, but their
character and pedigree has
brought them back. Nigeria-
Cameroun will be a big match.
The world is expecting such
confrontations and i am sure
we will rise to the occasion"
Can he comment on the
injuries that have plagued
the team, especially to the
star players, will this not
impede the wish to do well? "
Apart from Captain Yobo who
is out, others are in good
shape. Obafemi Martins came
out against Mozambique and
scored a beautiful goal that
boosted his confidence. Apart
from that, there are a lot of
young players on the wings
waiting to seize available
opportunity"
If you are told to dedicate
your goals, who will you
dedicate them to ? " Apart
from my team mates who
made it possible, Aiyegbeni
for instance had an
opportunity to score, yet he
passed the ball to me. So,
apart from my colleagues, i
want to dedicate my goals to
those who lost their lives in
the Jos riots in Nigeria and
pray that we should
endeavour to eradicate
anything that will lead to
senseless loss of lives,
anywhere in the world"
August 22, 2009, 04:52:39 AM