Nigerian football fans on Friday in Abuja intensified calls for the sack of Super Eagles chief coach, Shaibu Amodu, following his team’s 0-1 loss to Ghana’s Black Stars.

The Eagles lost to an Asamoah Gyan’s 21st minute goal in their 27th Africa Cup of Nations semi-final fixture in Luanda, Angola.

A cross-section of the football enthusiasts interviewed shortly after the Nigerian senior national team lost said that Amodu was not competent enough to continue to pilot the affairs of the team.

 

Mr Victor Iroele, Chairman, Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), FCT Chapter, blamed the team’s dismal performance on Amodu’s technical incompetence.

"Nigeria has a good cream of professional players and I do not understand why they should not be fielded appropriately to do the country proud," he said.

 

Mr Gabriel Sunday, another football enthusiast, said Super Eagles’ lacklustre performance under Amodu was an indication that he was no longer good enough for the job.

"Nigeria should hire another coach who will lead the country to the FIFA 2010 World Cup billed for South Africa in June," he demanded.

 

Mr Lekan Olaseinde, an Abuja-based sports journalist, also called for Amodu’s sack if the Eagles were to play well in South Africa later in the year.

 

"I had since the 1-3 loss to Egypt called for Amodu’s sack because I believed time was up for him.

 

"Now, if we are interested in doing well in South Africa and we are not waiting for another disastrous outing, Amodu should go.

 

"He doesn’t have the technical know-how again and his substitutions have always been disastrous," he said.

 

Thursday’s loss was Nigeria’s third to the Ghanaians in seven meetings at the Africa Cup of Nations finals, with three wins and one draw.

 

The Eagles, who had lost 1-2 to the same opponents in the quarter-finals of the competition two years ago in Ghana, will now play in the third-place match of the competition.

The match is scheduled for Benguela on Saturday at 5 p.m. Nigerian time.

 

 

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