YOU'RE A DISGRACE TO NIGERIA, MAIGARI TELLS DREAM TEAM

•Maigari
The President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Aminu Maigari, has expressed shock and disappointment over the unimpressive performance of the Obiora Nwankwo-led Dream Team V at the ongoing Confederation of African Football (CAF) Under-23 Olympic Games Championship qualifiers tagged 'Morocco 2011', describing the team as a disgrace to Nigeria.

Speaking to Daily Sunsports in Morocco after the ill-fated encounter against the Junior Taranga Lions of Senegal, the boss of the Nigerian soccer governing body lamented that the federation did not get anything commensurate to all the financial and logistic input on the team, admitting that it has been a trial time for Nigerian football.

Alhaji Maigari, specifically lamented that the team could put as little as it did despite being in camp for close to four months with the federation providing everything the players and their technical crew requested to make sure they did not fail.

'It's sad and disappointing to get this kind of results from this team after all we provided to make them excel in this tournament. We kept them in camp for several months, gave them good environment to operate, provided every slightest thing the players and the technical crew requested. It was painful that we got this after all we did for them.

'The team did not really play well and there was no discipline, tactics and cohesion among them. Naturally, I felt very bad over the result, but not all hopes are lost. We still have chances and can still qualify. Let us wait for the last match before we could finally give up,' the federation's boss noted.

Asked about the fate of the Chief Coach of the team, Austin Eguavoen, the Glass House boss said it would be wrong to take a decision now, stressing that the technical committee would review the technical report of the match and make recommendations to the board to take the final decision.

'I think it would be wrong to tell Nigerians now whether Eguavoen would be sacked or retained. The natural thing is for the technical committee to deliberate on the technical report of the match and make recommendation to the executive board. Thereafter, we will sit down to see the kind of contract he signed with us and look into the terms,' Maigari said.

Meanwhile, speaking in Abuja on Wednesday, NFF General Secretary, Barrister Musa Amadu, said: 'We are shocked at the team's poor outing in their first two matches.

'Yes, it is true that if the results of the last two matches go our way, we will still qualify for the semi-finals and be able to fight for one of the three automatic places at the men's football tournament of the London 2012 Olympics. But we are dismayed by the team's performance in their first two matches and we cannot hide it.'

Amadu also outlined the support the NFF gave the Dream Team V before the tournament.

'To start with, the team never lacked anything all through their qualifying matches against Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania.

'We remain grateful to the Edo State government for all the support we were able to get from it. After that, the team had several phases of camping and training programmes to prepare better.'