Buhari to Super Eagles: Please make us proud
By President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday tasked the Russian 2018 World Cup bound Nigerian Super Eagles to make the country proud by wining the tournament.
The President who stated this when he received the team at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villla, Abuja, noted that the team will be ” carrying the passion, emotion and feelings of the over 180 million people of Nigeria” along with them to the World Cup event.
The President had received the team at the Council Chambers following the cancellation of the weekly Federal Executive Council ( FEC ) meeting as a result of the holidays in celebration of the country’s Democracy Day
The weekly cabinet meetings usually presided over by the President, had over the years been known for its symbolic policy making settings, attended by Ministers and top government officials
No official reason was however given for the cancellation on Wednesday
But President Buhari, while receiving the players on Wednesday, charged them to “Play fair and clean, but demonstrate the gallant spirit which Nigerians are known for”
Buhari who noted also that “Nothing unites Nigerians more than football” said “nothing will gladden the people of Nigeria than for your acquit yourself honourably by winning in Russia”
“You are the youngest team in the tournament which means you are likely the most inexperienced team, a fact that will not be lost on your opponents. But it is also something that you can use to your advantage.”
The President, while extending the full support and the blessings of all Nigerians to the team, stated that ” this is our time, we look up to you to make us proud. All Nigerians join me in saying to you, best of luck. Thank you and God be with you all.”
He commended the Nigerian Football Federation for drawing up the right programme that is helping to refine the team to the powerful force which it’s meant to be.
Sports Minister Solomon Dalung charged the team to put the nation first and work as a team rather than seek individual glory at the tournament
” You must put Nigeria first and seek collective glory rather than individual glory at the tournament. That is the secret of teamwork. If you adhere to this principle, then the sky is your limit
Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, assured that the team has what it takes to qualify from its ” difficult” group which Includes Argentina , Croatia and Iceland
Team Captain , John Mikel Obi, commended the President for the massive support given to the team adding that ” this is the first time we will be going to a tournament like this without any issues on money, bonuses or anything like that”
” I think everything is sorted now for us and all we have to do is to go out there as players and make this country proud. And with your support as the father and leader of this country, we will go out there, give our best and come back with the trophy”
President of the Nigerian Football Federation, Amaju Pinnik described the team as ” the most disciplined and most united in the historiographic literature of the annals of football in the country”
He also disclosed that the team is the youngest team to the 2018 World Cup tournament according to the rating of the International Federation of Football Associations ( FIFA)
He assured that the country was parading a “team that will prosecute this World Cup and a team that will go for the next World Cup in 2022 and we have a team that will also go for the World Cup in 2026, because you have created that environment for us to thrive.
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