Siasia defends Dream Team over Wike’s cash

Nigeria’s U23 team head coach, Samson Siasia, says his players were not distracted by financial promises made to them prior to their 2016 Olympics clash against Congo.

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike had promised to reward each goal scored by the team with cash gifts but Siasia insists his charges were only focused on winning emphatically against the Central Africans.

“We want to thank the Governor for everything he did for us and also the people of Rivers State for coming out to support us.

“The bottom line is that we were here to win.

“These boys were not here for the money. They wanted to make sure Nigerians are happy with what we are doing so that we could qualify for the Olympics,” Siasia said at the post-match press conference.

The coach then commended the partisan crowd for the support they provided for his team during the game.

“First, I want to use this opportunity to thank Port Harcourt fans because since I joined this team, I have never witnessed the kind of support we received at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium on Sunday.

“We didn’t disappoint. We won but we did not get the number of goals we wanted to score (before kickoff).

“All the same, scoring two goals is not easy.

“When we go to (Pointe-Noire for the second leg), they will be the ones coming out to try to score against us.

“The bottom line is that we have won and we just have to celebrate this win and focus on the next game.

“I guess we got carried away a little bit instead of focusing on how to score the next goal.