Head coach of Portugal Roberto Martinez has praised the way Eric Chelle has transformed the senior national team of Nigeria since his appointment around a year ago, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
World Cup bound Portugal will be up against Nigeria tomorrow in an international friendly which will be their last before flying out for the tournament hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Nigeria failed to qualify for the tournament, but the game is very important for Nigeria with Chelle using the disappointment of missing out on the showpiece to rebuild the team.
Chelle who led the team to a third place finish at the AFCON in January, has earned praises for his ideas and style of play by Martinez ahead of tomorrow’s high profile game.
“I think Nigeria is a team with a coach whose ideas I really like. It is a very tactically flexible team, they can play in a diamond shape, a 4-4-2 diamond, with options, and then change quickly by bringing in wingers and two strikers”, he said while looking ahead of the game.
*They use their squad very well. They have very fast attackers, physically very strong, and they are different from the Chilean style. So for us it is very, very important to work on that.
He however said despite the fact that the game is a friendly, they will go all out for a win like they always do regardless of the nature of the game.
“When I have matches with the national team, I always approach it with the goal of winning. So we need to do everything we have worked on properly and execute it. Work with the national team happens every day, and it is important to build a team.
“I think the Chile game made us react a lot. I think it is better to win 2–1 than 2–0 from an evaluation point of view, because it gives you things to improve.
And tomorrow it is the same. We are going to try to win, and we are going to try to show clarity in what we want on the pitch.”
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
