With the era of open letters gradually returning to the Nigerian polity, especially football, the national football team, the Super Eagles, have said they should be distanced from it and will not want any distractions as the knock out stages of Mundial 2014 resumes.
Head coach, Stephen Keshi, said he had been hearing all manner of news from back home and wondered why some people were hell bent on distracting the team.
We understand that some people are playing politics but they must leave us out of it so that we can do well here and go far in the tournament instead of making press releases and statements that will distract the team,” he said.
The Big Boss took exceptions to news making the rounds that his players said they would not play the next game because monies have not been given to them.
“We don’t have money issues here, I talk to the players and the NFF leadership every time, so I wonder what some people want to achieve by always drawing us back from our set goals. Please, beg them to allow us concentrate on football and not any other thing.
Team skipper, Joseph Michael Tambarin Yobo, also took time off to address the issue, declaring that he players wanted the best for the country and would not want to be dragged into unnecessary distractions.
“We have reached this stage of the tournament, which is a special privilege, and we cannot afford to let the whole of Africa and especially Nigeria down. So, please let them allow us to focus on our football and nothing else,” he pleaded.
The national team will travel out of their team base camp in Campinas this afternoon (2 o’clock local time, which will be 6 o’clock Nigerian time) to Brasilia for the game against France on Monday.
“All logistics have been perfected for the trip by FIFA in conjunction with the team,” declared team administrator, Dayo Enebi Achor.