George made the assertion during a press conference where he lauded the
success story of Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman with Atlanta FC.
Lookman won the 2023–2024 Europa League on Wednesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the media parley was organized
by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Thursday at the Eko Hotels and
Suite, Victoria Island.
The Super Eagles coach said he was delighted at Lookman’s heroics for his
Italian club, Atlanta FC, who defeated Bayern Leverkusen in the Europa League
final.
The Nigerian scored a hat trick during the 3-0 defeat of their opponents.
”For me as a Nigerian, I am happy that our players are putting up such good
displays and doing well in Europe. This is the best times for Nigerians
playing in Europe.
”Ademola is a player we need and we love him and I am glad that he had a
spectacular performance yesterday.
”I sent him a message to congratulate him, and not him alone, but Victor
Boniface and Nathan Tella.
”It is a good thing for Nigeria because, for a very long time, we have not had
our players doing so well in Europe. As a coach now, it is wonderful for me.
”We need all these players to come back and perform for us. I am delighted for
Lookman’s success in scoring a hat-trick, and I am looking forward to having
him in the camp,” George said.
On the forthcoming crunch World Cup qualifier’s double header against South
Africa and Benin Republic, George assured that Nigeria would pick the maximum
points.
”South Africa World Cup qualifiers will be a difficult game. We all know what
happened during the last AFCON. For us, we know the capacity of the South
Africans.
”Majority of South African players are playing in the country, but if our
players give 100 percent of what they have given their respective clubs, we
don’t have a problem.
”I think the present form of the Super Eagles is good enough to beat the South
African team; all we need to pray for is luck and to take our chances,” he
said.
The coach also noted that he expected two or three additions to the team.
He also said that the bulk of the players he would use to prosecute the World
Cup qualifiers would be the players from the last AFCON.
”Sometimes, club performances and national team participation are not the
same. We are going to have new faces in the Eagles one or two.
”In my days as a player, we have players that are doing well at their club
level but failed to perform on the national team or struggled.
”We now have lots of players doing well in Europe that we will want to give
opportunity to, and we will give them the opportunity during the FIFA windows
for friendly matches.
”The best time to access them is during the friendly match to blend the new
invitees and the older ones together.
”However, the bulk of the players will be the ones that played in the last
AFCON. So now, Nigerians now know my mind,” he said.
George also revealed that the Super Eagles list for the World Cup qualifiers
against Bafana Bafana of South Africa and the Squirrels of Benin Republic
would be out before Saturday. (NAN)
0 Comments