Friday, February 5, 2010
Nigeria's participation in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will not be completed without the involvement of the old legs and experienced players in the team, according to Victor Obinna Nsofor.
" As we grow up with the team, I think we still need a few experienced players to give us the confidence. In any case, some of us can even be said to have grown in terms of experience. I made my Nations Cup debut in 2004, so after six years, I am no longer a kid. However, we still look up to people like Nwankwo Kanu,"he said.
Nsofor said he had gained much from the players since had been playing with them. "I have learnt a lot from them. Football is a learning process, and the more you play with the older players the better for your career."
On his experience at the just-concluded Nations Cup, he said: "Like every other team, we hoped to win, but as everyone could see, hard luck
cost us the game against Ghana. We enjoyed all the possession and created numerous chances but scoring was our biggest headache.
"The team has come under a lot of criticism lately and the players were not too comfortable with the uproar from football fans". Nsofor said criticism plays a major role in the game.
"Criticism is part of the game. Even when you are playing very well, people will see flaws in your game. But then, we have to admit our game hasn’t been
up to scratch in recent times. We will keep working hard and by God’s grace Nigerians would see a much improved Super Eagles at the World Cup.
Nsofor has been a great influence in the team and he did it against Tunisia on his Nations Cup debut in 2006, then against Mozambique in Abuja during the World Cup qualifiers, and now in Angola where his Man of the Match performance secured Nigeria’s seventh bronze medal in the tournament.
Endowed with a burst of pace, guile and a powerful shot, the Malaga star relives his Nations Cup experience as he looks forward to South Africa 2010.
"I thank God for my achievement, and I wish to thank my team mates for giving me the support to score. We have come a long way in this competition, and to go back home empty handed was not the best."
On the attitude of the team after the semifinal loss , he said: "We made a resolve to beat Algeria because it was the best way to pacify Nigerians who had expected something better from us, so we played to win. We knew we could have won the gold itself, but the luck wasn’t on our side.
Winning the bronze would only encourage us to work harder towards winning the gold in the next edition of the tournament.
I am still young and upcoming, so I have no problem if the coach plays me as a substitute. When it’s time for me to start playing on a regular basis, no one can stop it."
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