The performance of Nigeria at the ongoing U20 World Cup in Argentina has been hailed as one of the finest run the team has had in the tournament in a very long while, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
It is the first time since 2005 that Nigeria have made it to the quarter final of the tournament and praises have gone the way of coach of the team Ladan Bosso, who is in his second spell as coach of the team.
Bosso was at the helm in 2007 when Nigeria lost out in the round of 16 to Chile. He was also the man in charge in 2009 but was harshly dismissed for coach Samson Siasia despite meeting the target of qualifying for the World Cup by placing third at the AFCON.
His appointment to the same position raised eyebrows especially after the failure of his team to make it to the U20 Africa Cup of Nations two years ago. They bounced back to win the same tournament last year and also finished third at the U20 Cup of Nations to book a place at the world cup.
Despite a fairly good run at the AFCON, they were calls from certain section of the Nigerian media for the Niger state born coach to be sacked before the World Cup. He was retained by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and so far his team have exceeded all expectations by making it to the quarter final with wins over Italy and host Argentina the peak of their performance so far.
Reacting to the criticism suffered by the coach Daniel Joshua who was a part of the Yemi Tella led U17 team that were promoted to the U20 and worked with Bosso for a while, before accident ended his career on his way to the camp of the team for the AFCON in 2009 has given his views on the coach.
” I was watching a show on cable television and the stuff they were saying about his person, career and also tactical abilities were all not pleasant. They were so harsh on him and you really can’t blame them because they don’t truly know him like some of us”, Joshua told OwnGoalNigeria.com.
” Bosso can easily pass as one of the best tacticians in Nigerian football. I can say so because we worked together for two years. His style is every game has it’s kind of approach, players and tactics. Even inside games he can switch it. The criticism about him were not fair but I believe now they can see for themselves”, he said.
Damian Waziri
