Siasia harps on precision as Nigeria tackles Spain

HEAD Coach Samson Siasia has told his boys they must be more precise in front of goal if they wish to retain hope of progress to the Round of 16 of the on–going FIFA U-20 World cup finals, as the Flying Eagles take on Spain in their second match of the tournament today.

The 1994 World Cup star bared his mind to the players in the dressing room after Friday’s shock 0-1 loss to Venezuela at the Al Salam Stadium, just before Spain hammered Tahiti 8-0 to sound a note of warning to all teams here.

This is the 13th time that Spain will be playing at the FIFA U-20 World Cup (previously known as the FIFA World Youth Championship) and Monday afternoon’s game is the on-going tournament’s match number 13. Nigeria have won only 13 of its previous 36 matches at FIFA’s second most important competition, yet has picked silver on two occasions and won bronze at the finals in Soviet Union 24 years ago. Pulling no punches in addressing his players and expressing his disappointment with the way they started the game, Siasia said the strikers and midfielders must learn not to pull their punches in front of goal henceforth.

“This is a big tournament and you must learn to take your chances. There is no use creating 50 chances and wasting all of them. You must get to a situation where you can put away five of seven chances. “Nigerians back home are expecting us to go far in this competition and even win the trophy. We cannot continue to throw away begging opportunities.

Against Spain, we must be up to it right from the first minute and show the seriousness that the match deserves”, Siasia told his boys early Sunday morning. The match will bring memories of the final match between both countries at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Republic of Korea two years ago, which Nigeria won on penalties after a scoreless 120 minutes. Nigeria will be wearing green with white stripes while Spain will spot all white with black stripes. The Flying Eagles will still be without injured goalie Dele Ajiboye, while Ikande Harmony, Rabiu Ibrahim and Muhammed Shagari are all still injured. Lukman Haruna, who was sent off against Venezuela, is ineligible for selection.