The Sun News On-line

The stage is now set for Olympic Eagles to justify all the noise about their inclusion in the Super Eagles World/Nations Cup qualifier against Leone Stars at the Abuja National Stadium tomorrow.

The invited Dream Team IV players are already in camp rearing to go. But as they say, football is not played on the pages of newspapers or by hear say. So, everybody is looking up to them to justify their inclusion in the senior national team.

Another angle to the dream of the boys being fulfilled relies solely on the tactics Amodu will deploy in the game against the visitors. If the coach decides not to gamble with his winning streak, he would not want to change the composition of the squad that had won all their matches in the qualifying campaign. But where he decides otherwise, then certainly, some of the new boys will have the opportunity to kick the ball against Sierra Leone on Saturday.
He might as well field them, knowing that much is not at stake since the team had already qualified for the next round of the qualifiers.

Already, the invited players are relishing the experience of mixing with the big boys, who they had before now only watched from afar. They told Daily Sunsport that there’s no reason for them to fail with the kind of treatment they had already experienced in the camp since their arrival.
According to them, the atmosphere and the kind of discipline they had experienced so far were enough to propel them to do well in the team. They were of the opinion that, that kind of treatment should also be extended to other national teams for them to perform better.
"This is a new experience. It is different from what we have been experiencing at the junior cadre. The security, welfare and environment are all different. So, if we fail to live up to the expectation, we will have ourselves to blame," they chorused.

"The presence of players like Kanu Nwankwo and Yakubu Aiyegbeni is enough motivation for us. All we are therefore asking for, is that we should get chances to show the stuff we are made of."
The Nicon Luxury Hotel camp of the Super Eagles has come alive with the arrival of all the invited players for the match on Saturday, scheduled for the National Stadium in Abuja.
Daily Sunsport findings revealed that the technical crew of the squad were elated that most of the players beat the deadline to arrival early, and they are now plotting strategies on how to defeat the Leone Stars of Sierra Lone.

The team had their first walkout on Tuesday’s morning, which lasted for over three hours under the supervision of coaches Amodu, Daniel Amokachi and Aloy Agu.
The training session was used to perfect strategies on shooting from outside the 18yard box and to enhance accurate marksmanship, while the goalkeepers were drilled by Aloy Agu on reflexes.
The first training session, watched by scanty Abuja crowd, was later adjourned till Wednesday morning to allow the players who had yet to take some rest since their arrival to do so.

Meanwhile, Leone Stars arrived in Abuja on Thursday and had their first feel of the Abuja National Stadium where the match will take place. They arrived with 12 professional players and six locals, and were talking tough on their mission to demystify the Super Eagles.
They said that only a win against the Eagles would guarantee them a place in the next round of the qualifiers, and therefore, asked those who had written them off to wait until Saturday when the match would get underway.