Amodu: 66 players to fight for Super Eagles jersey

Shuaibu Amodu, Super Eagles interim coach, has been handed a 66-man list drawn from local and foreign clubs by the technical department of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), to prosecute the last two Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2015 qualifiers in November.

Amodu, though, did not disclose the names on the list.

“What the technical department has done for me is very good; they have just provided me with a list of 66 players to pick from,” he told reporters during his visit to the Glass House.

“I will hold meetings with my technical team with a view to fashioning out how we can pick the remaining six points. It is not for me alone to do the work; it is for all of us.

“I made my position very clear with the president of NFF to make things easy; I wanted to be announced from the technical department where I was already given a job”.

The former coach of BCC Lions disclosed he’s on a rescue mission and not desperate to be retained by the NFF after the games with Congo and South Africa.

“If they decide to give me the job fully, good and fine, if not, you all know me that I am not looking for a job. What I’m doing is a rescue job, which I have been found worthy to deliver because of my past records,” said the man who qualified Nigeria for the 2002 and 2010 World Cups.

Amodu, who was appointed alongside Salisu Yusuf, Gbenga Ogunbote and Alloy Agu by the NFF, used the opportunity to plead with Nigerians to be modest in their expectations as the team seeks AFCON 2015 qualification ticket.

“We have been given an assignment that is tough and very challenging but not one that is impossible to accomplish. We will give it our very best and see how things can be turned around,” he said.

“I think this situation is very similar to what we had in the qualifiers to the 2002 World Cup. We worked hard, did our bit and were fortunate to have results elsewhere also going our way.

“There are some things that, as humans, we cannot control just as there are a lot more we can influence. I can assure everybody that we will give this assignment all we have and then hope that all other things fall in place for us.

“Let us all be modest in our expectations so that we do not put ourselves under undue pressure. Let everybody involved in the game in Nigeria pull together in the right direction and then we see what we can achieve with the next two games as mandated by the Nigeria Football Federation.

“Planning has commenced. A lot of deliberations and discussions are already going on. We need to be very thorough with all aspects of our planning. Once we have concluded all these, we will unveil them to the media.”

Super Eagles of Nigeria will meet Congo in November 15 and play South Africa in Akwa Ibom four days later.