TANZANIA VS NIGERIA: OLISEH’S FIRST MATCH AS SUPER EAGLES HEAD COACH

The major thing on Sunday Oliseh’s mind today is not to lose to the Taifa Stars of Tanzania as he leads the Super Eagles to the first major assignment in his managerial career. It is a crucial match for the Super Eagles in the race to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations as they stand the chance of going top of Group G, which currently has Egypt as leaders. Only one team will advance from the group.

The Eagles started on a good note, beating Chad 2-0 under former manager Stephen Keshi. But Egypt’s 3-0 win over Tanzania in their first game meant Nigeria are second in the group.

Nigeria have never lost to Tanzania before since their first meeting in 1972. The Eagles have won four times, while two of their meetings ended in draws.

While Oliseh had only managed two Belgian third division clubs – Eupen (2007) and Verviétois (2008) – his ambition to become Nigeria’s most successful football manager starts today.

But he has decided to define his standard by calling on some players who were in the past overlooked by his predecessor. Players like Anzhi Makhachkala midfielder Lukman Haruna, Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Carl Ikeme and Al Ain striker Emmanuel Emenike were recalled, while first-timers Sylvester Igbonu (FC Ufa) and Izunna Uzochukwu (FC Amkar Perm), both based in Russia, are on their first international assignments.

When Oliseh was contacted, he said “I won’t boast ahead of the game, 90 minutes will judge. I’ll accept whatever comes out of the game, but we’ll give our best not to lose any point.”

Advertise here