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GOV SANWO-OLU, MINISTER DARE CHARGE EAGLES TO BEAT BRAZIL

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Nigeria’s Youth and Sports Minister, Sunday Dare and Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State have pumped up the spirit of the Super Eagles while charging the three –time African champions to defeat Brazil in Sunday’s prestige friendly in Singapore.

Both top Nigerian officials spoke to the players and officials of the Super Eagles on telephone when President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Melvin Pinnick visited the team camp on Saturday evening.

Pinnick was part of the team’s official training at the Singapore National Stadium and then joined the group for dinner, where he made calls to the Lagos State number one citizen and the Youth and Sports Minister.

“I want to commend you all, that is the technical crew, backroom staff and players for the good job you are doing. The whole of Nigeria is behind you.

“We will be watching the game live here, fully supporting you as you go for a win against the Brazilians,” said Youth and Sports Minister,. Sunday Dare.

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Governor Sanwo-Olu was also on the telephone urging the team to do Nigeria proud by going all out against the five –time world champions.

In their responses, Technical Adviser Gernot Rohr and stand –in captain William Ekong promised that the team would put up a good outing that will do the country proud.

Super Eagles’ training session in Brazil

Rohr said: “We are having a great time in camp like the one big family that we are. We are hoping not only to do well in tomorrow’s match but also targeting a good start to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign against Benin Republic and Lesotho next month.” 

Rohr rubbishes talk he wants to quit, says he’s preparing Eagles for 2021 AFCON qualifiers

Technical Adviser Gernot Rohr on Saturday in Singapore told the media that he is preparing three –time African champions Nigeria for 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic and Lesotho, rubbishing claims by a journalist on social media that he wants to quit the job.

“The game against Brazil will show how much we are progressing after finishing third at the Africa Cup in Egypt. It is a fantastic opportunity for us to learn a few more things that will make us better and stronger for future challenges.

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“This is an important test game for us, and we are here to learn from the best. We hope for a very good game against Brazil on Sunday. This will help us prepare ourselves for the 2021 AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho next month,” Rohr said at the pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s clash with the five –time world champions at the Singapore National Stadium in Kallang.

“After the 2019 AFCON, two of our top players (Mikel Obi and Odion Ighalo) retired and we have to see how to replace them. We saw a little bit in our friendly against Ukraine last month and hope we can improve on that performance tomorrow.

“A good showing against Brazil will help our confidence a great deal.”

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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