Head coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Eric Chelle, has questioned the visa processes that led to him training with only 15 players, two days before their FIFA World Cup qualifier against Lesotho on Friday. Nigeria will play Lesotho in a must-win game at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
They are currently third in the group, three points behind both Bafana Bafana and Benin. During the pre-match press conference on Thursday, Chelle revealed how their preparations had been disrupted by late arrivals for the match.
ERIC CHELLE NOT IMPRESSED AFTER PREPARING WITH LESS PLAYERS
“It’s difficult to prepare a game if you don’t have 20 players because you need to work on the opponent,” he said.
“You need to work on how you play against a team, so that there are many options to do during a session. So if your player arrives one day before the game, it’s difficult.
“This is not because of the Nigeria Football Federation or something. It is about administration; it is about the visa forms. So if the visa comes late, the player can’t come,” he said, suggesting that the South African authorities could have delayed the visa approvals as Nigerian citizens are required a visa to travel into the country.
NIGERIA NATIONAL TEAM COACH REMAINS FOCUSED DESPITE VISA ISSUES
“So maybe I will answer this question after the game, but yesterday, [Wednesday] morning, we were only 15 to prepare for a game. I can ask you a question: What is the problem with a visa form in your country?
“I don’t want to do a problem, but this is the reality. Like I said earlier, we are focused on our group, on our players, and we want to win,” he added.
“For sure, like I said, we need to be focused on our state of mind because this is the most important thing. We need to forget and be focused on ourselves.”
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