Sports Minister, Ndanusa, says ‘Eagles won't find things easy in Angola’
2010-01-11 at 12:34 pm administrator
Nigeria's Super Eagles need to prepare to scale the greatest hurdles of their lives in Angola when they file out against the defending champions, Egypt, tomorrow in the Africa Cup of Nations event.
Minister of Sports, Engineer Isa Ndanuusa, admitted that the Africa Cup of Nations, will be a tough tournament but added that in the end, the Nigerian Super Eagles have all it takes to prove to the world that they are a super team.
Ndanusa, speaking in Kano, expressed confidence that with the height of spirits displayed by the members of the national team, there was no reason to fear about the prospect of the team in the tournament. He said: "We are not unaware of the challenges. We are aware that Angola is a major tournament but we assure you that the Super Eagles will come out super among the teams".
Similarly, he said that Angola 2010 will serve as a prelude to the World Cup, billed for later part of the year, adding that it is hoped that the national side will also record an impressive performance in the World Cup tournament.
The minister said that efforts had been made to break away from the traditional fire brigade approach to the management of the national side, stating that all that needs to be done to bring back the trophy to the country and get the players to perform creditably well in South Africa have been done. He, however, advised Nigerians to be prayerful as well as support the Super Eagles throughout the duration of the tournaments.
He disclosed that he was in Kano as part of efforts to re-engineer sporting facilities at the grass roots, noting that he had been to Kastina , and Gwaram in Jigawa State as part of the initiative to boost sports at the rural level. He expressed delight with the quality of the facilities he had so far inspected and added that his Ministry would continue to improve on the current achievements in sports development at the grassroots level.
We are going to move from Community Sports centers to the emergence of bigger facilities at the grassroots, he said, adding that the good thing is that the youths in the rural communities, who he said were heavily talented , would have several options of the sporting fields to choose from.
