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Super Eagles flying low Nigeria hoping to satisfy unhappy fans
Posted: Tuesday February 01, 2000 05:41 PM
LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) -- Nigeria's Super Eagles have appealed to their dissatisfied fans to get behind them in their remaining matches in the African Nations Cup. "We want to apologize to the fans because we couldn't satisfy them in the Congo match but we also plead for their total support in our next games," team captain Sunday Oliseh said on Tuesday. "Let's all forget about what happened last week against Congo and let players and fans work together as one for the rest of the tournament," said right winger Tijjani Babangida. The local fans hurled plastic bottles onto the pitch toward the end of the game against outsiders Congo. The match ended in a 0-0 draw. The Nigerian players were locked inside the changing room for their own safety while the police fired tear gas to disperse the irate fans after they smashed a window on the team bus. The Confederation of African Football imposed a fine of $2,000 on Nigeria for the "unruly behavior" of its fans. Assistant team coach Stephen Keshi said: "Without the fans' support the Super Eagles won't play well. So if they want a good result against Morocco they have to cheer us from the beginning till the end of the match." Nigeria has four points and leads Group D on goal difference from Morocco. The two countries meet on Thursday when a draw would send both through to the quarterfinals. Meanwhile a Nigerian Football Association official said the pay row with the team had been resolved. "Everything about money has been settled," said the association's spokesman Austin Mgbolu. "We have met the team's demand $3,000 per player for the win against Tunisia and $1,500 for drawing with Congo."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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