Obinna: A fresh start for Nigeria

Obinna: A fresh start for Nigeria


Last night, Nigeria and their new coach, Samson Siasia, played their first match in seven years in Lagos, the country’s commercial capital and one of its most notable football hotbeds.

Siasia gave first caps to seven players including Joel Obi, the exciting Inter Milan midfielder, and domestic top scorer Ekigho Ehiosun, who made a goalscoring debut. Despite some booing by the ever-demanding Lagos crowd late on, there were several positives for the 43-year-old Siasia to take from the absorbing 2-1 win over fellow west Africans Sierra Leone.

For his part, West Ham United striker Victor Obinna told African Football Media that the match signalled nothing less than a new beginning for a senior team whose last major piece of silverware came 17 years ago at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia. “There is a new atmosphere, a new backroom staff, new players and a new manager. This is a fresh start for all of us,” remarked the 24-year-old Obinna, one of several key stars who watched the game from the stands because of a slight injury.

Obinna first worked with Siasia in the Nigeria Under-20 team six years ago and he is in no doubt the charismatic former international is the right man to get the Eagles flying again. “Siasia is one of the best coaches I have worked under, and he has already proved himself by getting to the finals of both the U-20 World Cup in Holland in 2005 and the Beijing Olympics in 2008,” said Obinna, who is on loan at Upton Park from Inter Milan.