Abuja – Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia will be the factor in Nigeria’s friendly match against Argentina on June 1, football enthusiasts in the FCT have said.

The enthusiasts said on Wednesday that fans would turn out en-masse for Siasia and his new team even though Lionel Messi would likely not feature for Argentina in the match.

The Nigeria and Argentina have met five times, three times at the World Cup in 1994, 2002 and 2010, and once each, at the Olympics in 1996 and the Confederations Cup in 1995.

Argentina has had the upper hand with three wins, a draw and one defeat in the hands of their African rival, Nigeria.

The Argentine team currently comprises of Messi, the reigning world best player and other big stars playing for top clubs in Europe and America.

Also Argentina will play Nigeria without their Barcelona duo of Messi and Javier Mascherano as a statement from the organisers indicated that the team to Nigeria will be without the two players who will be playing for their clubs in the UEFA Champions League final.

Patrick Osei, a member of the supporters club said that the crowd would be out to express their love for Coach Samson Siasia.

He said not even the exclusion of key players in the visiting team would deter them from being at the stadium.

“Nigerians come to give support, but they will come out because of Siasia; not because of the players because it is Siasia we are giving support; for that, many people will come out.

“We like the way he works; his loyalty and his faithfulness to the game. He is giving it to Nigerians and Nigerians are willing to die for him, so that is basically why most Nigerians are going out to support him.’’

Osei said that Nigerians were keener on seeing how the Super Eagles under Siasia, would perform against the highly-rated Argentina side than to watch stars on parade for the South Americans.

He, however, frowned at the high prices of tickets for the match saying it could affect the marketing of the game.

For Bertrum Ekenwa, a FIFA-licensed player agent, the absence of the reigning world footballer of the year, Lionel Messi, would affect the quality of the game, saying his presence would have introduced another dimension to the encounter.

He said that the game would be interesting because both countries were in the process of strengthening their squads for future engagements.

He added that there was a lot of quality on the Argentine side to match whatever team Siasia parades on June 1.

Mansur Abdullahi, a former Super Falcons assistant coach said that turnout for the Nigeria Vs Argentina friendly match would be influenced by the outpour of love for Siasia by Nigerians.

He said that obviously Siasia would be a determining factor in the way fans would turn out for the match.

He also called on the organisers of the match to cut down the price of tickets for the match to allow more fans go to the stadium to cheer the Super Eagles.

The match will be the first between the two sides since they met at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. (NAN)

-Vanguard

Posted by admin on May 12 2011. Filed under Headlines, Soccer, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry