Niger Tornadoes technical adviser, coach Abubakar Bala, has forwarded his goodwill message to the newly elected NFF President, Mallam Ibrahim Gusau, the national team coach in an interview with Adexsports in Ibadan shortly after Niger Tornadoes’ friendly match against Shooting Stars FC of Ibadan, opined that he believes in the continuity of some the successes recorded by the past administration.
In his words “It’s an opportunity for the newly elected chairman to review the mistakes of the past administration and build on their successes to strengthen and build a new Nigeria Football Federation”
“The new chairman was part of the previous government which I believe will give him an advantage to continue the good work he met on ground and also correct the mistakes of the past Administration”
“For instance, Nigerians are not happy with the past administration for failing to qualify the Super Eagles for the world cup in Qatar, we are the giant of Africa, it is very sad and painful losing that slot at home to Ghana in Abuja”
“Though we have learnt our lesson and I believe the current board members will do the needful to avoid such ugly occurrence with our national teams”
“As you can see, the different approach from our qualifying match against Tanzania on Saturday in Ibadan, they all came around to give us maximum support which motivated our boys in putting their best, it was not easy in the first half of the game, but we came out stronger in the second half to score the two goals, which gave us an opportunity to proceed to the next round”
“Ibadan people are so wonderful, we really enjoyed their hospitality and support, they came out in large numbers to watch the game and also cheered us to victory”
“On Niger Tornadoes FC, I think we have learnt our lesson, even though our challenges still remain as it is, but with time and promises made by the government there’s more hope. We are the only team that played all our matches away from home at different stadia, which really tell on the team as we struggled throughout to remain in the apex league”
“That’s why we have started preparing in earnest ahead of commencement of the league, we don’t want to have any bad experience this season, our plan is to speed up recruitment and blend the players together before the commencement of the league”
“Finally, I appreciate all our supporters and fans, I assure them of good football and a different Niger Tornadoes FC by God’s grace”