Road to Russia 2018 ‘ll be tough says Oliseh

Oliseh

Newly appointed Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh has warned his countrymen and women not to expect miracles from him, even as he assured that the country can qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Oliseh admitted that he was embarking on a difficult path. “We are practically starting from scratch, so that is why I am saying that people should not expect miracles from us.”

On the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, the former Nigeria international said he was confident the Eagles will take the first hurdle but that the road to Russia would be tough. “It is going to be very, very difficult, but I believe we can qualify. All we have to do is look at ourselves, try to improve our game and hopefully we will qualify.”

Oliseh has had little previous coaching experience, being in charge of a Belgian third division club. “I don’t think that is a drawback though,” he states. “Time will tell, but I took the job to be successful.” And he says that he is confident his players can benefit from his World Cup experience, adding: “But first we have to qualify.”

The coach reiterated his decision on having the best players to play for Nigeria. “Our ambition is to get the best to play for Nigeria, and football is getting faster these days and it keeps getting faster and faster. The tempo is different now, and we can see in the first division of most nations that is where the tempo is.”

Even though he finally felt ready for the job, he said he hesitated to accept the challenging offer. “To coach Nigeria is not the easiest job in the world and one is only as good as the players. Nigeria at the moment has a lot of potential, but we don’t have a lot of confirmed players in the top clubs in the top leagues, so taking over the national team now means we have to remake the whole team and introduce a new philosophy of playing style, of culture and mentality.”