Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle is demanding improvement from his side following Nigeria’s victory over Jamaica in the Unity Cup final at the Gtech Stadium on Saturday, www.aclsports.com reports.
In his post-match press conference, the Chelle spoke about his side’s mentality and the forthcoming friendly against Russia next weekend. More importantly, Malian-born tactician reflected on the importance of the Unity Cup and how it has helped him to see more players in the pool of Super Eagles available to him ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in September and October.
“In the last press conference, I spoke about my initial thoughts on this tournament, said Chelle via Modo Victor.
“To be honest, I wasn’t in full agreement with it at first because it’s the end of the season. It’s difficult to bring in our players — they’ve had a long, tiring campaign. But then I thought about it again and said, ‘Okay, at least I get to be with my players,’ and that made me happy.
“The second thing is that we have an important goal in September. So I saw this as an opportunity to give many players a chance to show what they can do. And I’m really happy and proud of them because, in just two or three training sessions, they worked really hard. That’s the reality.
“During this tournament, we scored goals, we created chances, and we showed some very good things in our game. But of course, we still need to work. We have weaknesses. In today’s game, for instance, we made 22 mistakes — that’s a lot. We need to improve, to step up as a group and as a team, especially if we want to qualify for the World Cup,” he added.
The former Mali head coach was pleased with the character of his side during the tournament, but believes they need to continue improving.
“Right now, I can say that my players have a great spirit and a strong mindset. That makes me happy. We’ll keep working and thinking about our game project. The most important thing for me is that we play together, both in defence and offence. We need to improve all the time, mentally and physically. We must become warriors on the pitch.”
Chelle also spoke about the forthcoming friendly against Russia, and the need to win and return home with their heads held high.
“Playing away from home is never easy. That’s why we’re working on the mental side of things. That was my message to the players: We need to show the football world our mindset, our hunger. We’re continuing with the same ambition — to go to Russia, get the win, and return to Abuja with our heads held high,” Chelle concluded.
Nigeria will face Russia in an international friendly at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Friday, June 6, and Chelle has another 21-man squad for the fixture.
