Interview By Sab Osuji, In Cape Town:
Big Boss, I must start by saying congratulations for this dramatic but important win over Morocco in the quarter final match.
Thank you my brother, I’ll salute the players, I salute all Nigerians and I salute the fans for their support.
Now you came out of this seven goals thriller after recovering from a 3-0 first half deficit, what was the turning point?
The turning point I would say was the desire of the players to preserve their identity to remain in the competition till the end and possibly go home with the cup. Yes, they don’t just want to leave the competition early, they want to stay more here in South Africa.
But they went three goals down in just seven minutes; doesn’t that run counter to what you said that they want to remain in the tournament?
We did not have a good start; we gave the Moroccans a lot of respect, a lot of time and space which they enjoyed as it lasted. When you give a good team like Morocco such luxury, surely you will be punished but thank God we were able to turn things around in the second half.
So how did it happen, I mean what was it that changed especially as regards to what sparked this come back?
Well, I told them in the dressing room at half time that look guys we’ve not played our game, the Nigerian game and there’s need for us to get our mentality back and our fighting spirit. I said we must fight and redeem ourselves and they did, I’m happy and I salute the players.
With scores at 3-0 at half time did you ever think you were going to get back into the game?
Yeah, it might not please all ears at that point but yes I did.
How? Why?
Such things do happen in football. You recall the Damman Miracle of Saudi Arabia 1989 U-20 World Cup finals when Nigeria came from 0-4 down to beat Russia. I remember when I was in Mali during the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola, in our first game against Angola, we were 4-0 down in the first half and in just 12 minutes, we scored four to even the scores. But this one (against Morocco) is something else so I’ve to salute my players, for the character and mentality they brought into the second half. It was just awesome.
You seem used to such dramatic situations...
(Cuts) like I said, it happens though not too often.
Semi final ticket in the bag, could it be a birthday gift for the Big Boss at 52?
My birthday was last Thursday (January 23) but because of the task at hand, I had to shift it. All our focus was on this match and the players promised to win it as a gift as my birthday gift and I’m happy they won. Victory in the match means the players have fulfilled their promise because it would have been bad if we had lost. I’m proud of them and I couldn’t have been happier.
Now the semi final match comes up on Wednesday against Ghana, what’s on your mind?
It’s just a part of the games, it’s now a crucial stage of the competition and we gonna face it. But we know it’s going to be very tough, whether it’s Ghana or DR Congo. But I’m happy the boys are getting their minds on it, they want to remain in the competition and possibly win and to do that, we have to win every game.
Nigeria and Ghana have that bitter rivalry in football; would you rather have them in the semi final or Congo?
It’s not a matter of preference, this is a championship and for you to win, you must be ready to face any team. We’ve known Ghana to be a strong football nation, so also is DR Congo, we respect all of them but well we are prepared to face any of them.
I’m sure you must have enjoyed Cape Town so far including their support…
They are wonderful people, we have played all our matches here and honestly I appreciate them so much.
Playing the semi final away from Cape Town won’t it affect your team?
No, I don’t think so, it’s instead another opportunity to see the other parts of South Africa and I believe it’s gonna be a kind of motivation to them.
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