Mr. Solomon Dalung, the Minister of Youth and Sports has expressed satisfaction with the silver medal won by the home based Super Eagles in the WAFU Nations Cup final.
Dalung who was in Accra to cheer the team during their 1-4 loss to host Ghana in the final stated that sportsmanship is not only about winning but also losing.
“We cannot win the cup all the time and that’s why it’s called sports. Overall, the players did very well but unfortunately they came second. I am not disappointed but satisfied with their performance.”
The Minister urged the Technical Departmemt of the Nigeria Football Federation to liase with the team’s coaching crew led by Salisu Yussuf to correct the flaws noticed in the course of the competition.
“They did very well but of course the technical crew will go back to review the match and amend certain strategic shortfalls in terms of coordination in our play, but overall, we must sincerely admit that they did well.”
Dalung also called on the NFF to draw positives from the WAFU Nations Cup as they prepare for the World Cup qualifier against Zambia in Uyo on October 7.
“We have come a long way in our campaign for the World Cup qualifiers and we are confident that despite the setback of the performance of our team in Ghana, we will definitely deliver on our promise of handing over the qualification ticket to Nigerians. So Nigerians should remain very supportive, despite the setback we had here” the Minister stated.