Samson Siasia led Super Eagles’ quest? of qualifying for the 2012 African Nations Cup in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea face a stern test tomorrow when they? confront the Gravie Barriers of Madagascar in Antananarivo.
On paper, the test should not be a tough one for Siasia’s dominated Europe based squad against low rated Madagascar who are expected to play the game with their U-23 squad after sacking their entire national team for poor performances in this month’s Indian Ocean Islands Games and a row over allowance payments. The worries of many Nigerians are that Eagles have not been good travellers in recent time and that is where the concern lies.
It is this same miserable record away from home that was responsible for Nigeria’s current trail behind Guinea by three points. The one nil loss to Guinea in Conakry coupled with the 2-2 draw against Ethiopia in Addis Ababa have thrown Nigeria into the now familiar pattern of struggling to qualify for major competitions, doing all sorts of arithmetic calculations and permutations.
Coach Samson Siasia understands the importance of the games and had arrived in Antananarivo on Thursday morning with members of his squad, three days ahead of a must-win cracker. Speaking with journalists before departing Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja for Antananarivo, Siasia reiterated his team’s focus, saying Sunday’s game at the Stade Municipal de Mahamasina is priority over the international friendly in Bangladesh on Tuesday against soccer giant, Argentina.
“We need to win in Madagascar to have the right spirit and frame of mind for the game in Bangladesh. We need the three points. And we would do everything we can to win it. I don’t even want to think of anything less than victory. If we don’t win that, God forbid, we would not even have the right frame of mind for the game in Bangladesh.
“We want Nigerians to pray for the team, because we have prepared well and we believe it is going to be our day on Sunday. If we don’t win the game, we no go come back here o”, said Siasia.
Meanwhile, defending champion, Egypt and fellow African soccer giant, Cameroon could be eliminated from 2012 continental showpiece this weekend before the last round of qualifying matches. Two of Africa’s three most successful teams, with 11 titles between them are not expected to make it to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in five months’ time. Instead, Central African Republic, Malawi and Cape Verde could pick tickets to the next African Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Samuel Eto’o’s Cameroon trails Senegal and Congo in Group E, while Egypt, Africa’s three-time defending champions and record seven-time Cup of Nations winners, are last in Group G and without a win in a disastrous campaign that ended the reign of the team’s most successful coach, Hassan Shehata.
Egypt sacked longtime coach Hassan Shehata following a 0-0 home draw with South Africa in June, which effectively sealed its elimination. Only two wins and an almost-impossible set of results elsewhere could see them steal one of two qualifying berths for second-place teams. If it fails to happen. It means Egypt will fail to qualify for the African Cup of Nations – a tournament it has dominated – for the first time since 1978.
The Pharaohs appear to have conceded this, choosing to play their under-23 team under stand-in coach Hani Ramzy for the remaining qualifiers against Sierra Leone this weekend and Niger in October.
Only veteran midfielder Ahmed Hassan was included from the struggling senior squad as he closes in on the record for the most international appearances. Hassan has 175 caps and is three off all-time leader, Mohammad Al Deayea of Saudi Arabia.
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