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| FIFA U-20 WC: Nigeria coach tinkers with team ahead of Tahiti tie
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Cairo, Egypt (PANA) -
Desperately fighting for their career and the country's pr
ide, Nigeria
coach Samson Siasia and his crew have reshuffled the Flying Eagles ahead of thei
r crucial final
group stage match against Tahiti on Thursday at the ongoing FIFA Under-20 World
Cup in Egypt.
Nigeria, perhaps Africa's best rated team going into the tournament, lost its fi
rst two group B
matches to Venezuela and Spain, putting in jeopardy its chances of advancing to
the next round.
Even though many have written off the Nigerians, they can still qualify for the
round of 16 as one
of the best losers if they beat group B whipping-boy Tahiti comprehensively and
then hope to get some
help from other results.
Acknowledging the possibility of the Flying Eagles advancing, Siasia told PANA h
ere Thursday: "The situation
looks very bad at the moment and I think if we can start scoring goals and scor
e huge goals, we might
miraculously sail through, depending on the results of the other groups anyway."
With two key players - Lukman Haruna and Gbolahan Salami - out due to the red ca
rds they bagged in the
first two matches, and several notable players already nursing one injury or ano
ther, there are fears that
the Flying Eagles may be depleted for Thursday's match
But the coaching crew said it had a back-up plan to present a strong squad again
st Tahiti, despite the loss
of key players to red cards and injuries.
"The team will be surely reshuffled against Tahiti. Daniel Uchechi will take the
place of suspended Captain
Odion Ighalo, while King Osanga will move to the right side of the attack and Om
atsone Aluko will play from
the left side of the attack," said First Assistant Coach Simon Kalika.
The Dutch tactician also revealed that in-form defender Edet Ibok would start th
e match, while Uche Okafor
would still man the post in the absence of first choice but injured goalkeeper O
ladele Ajiboye.
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| Cairo - 30/09/2009 |
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