Monica Iheakam
Chairman of CAF Appeals Committee, A.U. Mustapha has declared that Super Eagles need a “world class” psychologist to excel at the Russia 2018 World Cup.
Mustapha who gave a pat on the back to the nation’s soccer governing body, NFF for drawing up a good programme for the Gernot Rohr tutored side ahead of the Mundial said one area that must not be neglected is that of psychology.
“The players need to be properly psyched up before they go into the Russia 2018 battle. They need to be confident and believe in their ability to deliver and you need a good psychologist to do that. It is an area we must pay good attention to,” Mustapha said.
The football buff urged Nigerians to also match words with action when it comes to supporting the team. He said a tiny country like Iceland can not afford to have more supporters at the Volgograd Arena on June 22, the day the Eagles face Iceland in their second match of group D.
“As we speak, over 10,000 fans of Iceland have bought their World Cup tickets and they are contributing a token to support their national team. And what we are talking about here is a country of less than 300,000 people. Nigeria is blessed with a population of over 170 million people. Eagles shouldn’t lack support in Russia. As many of us that want Rohr and his boys to do well should stand up and support the team. Nigerians who can’t be in Russia should back the boys with prayers, identifying with the team by putting on our national colors. Nigerians should be the 12th player for Eagles.”
Mustapha also gave kudos to Energy outfit, Aiteo for accepting to sponsor the national team, even as he pointed out that the Eagles would not have qualified with ease for the Mundial if Aiteo had not thrown its weight behind the team.