Eguavoen, Siasia all Chased Sam

 

Former Nigeria head coach, Augustine Eguavoen, has lamented the failure of the nation to snap up Bayer Leverkusen winger, Sidney Sam, from under the noses of Germany.
Eguavoen said Sam would have been a good addition to the current Nigerian men's national team, who are African champions.

He also revealed that during his time as Super Eagles head coach, an attempt was made to lure Sam to play for Nigeria without success.
"He's a decent footballer and quick on the ball and off it. But I don't know why he has refused to play for Nigeria. When I was coach of the (Nigeria) team we tried to get Sidney Sam. Also during the time of Samson (Siasia) as coach, the move to get him continued but nothing happened.

"So it is may be he doesn't just love Nigeria or he prefers Germany since he knows little or nothing about us here as he has lived all of his life in Germany. But I feel he would have had a better chance with Nigeria," said Eguavoen, who is now head coach at Nigeria National League (NNL) club, City Of David (COD) United.
The former Enyimba manager now wants current Super Eagles gaffer, Stephen Keshi to move on from the Sam saga and focus on the busy June schedule.

"Right now I think it will be proper for the coach and the team to concentrate on the games coming like the World Cup qualifiers and the Confederations Cup. This (Sam issue) shouldn't be a distraction for the team at this time," advised Eguavoen.
Sam, this week, made it clear he had "never really thought about Nigeria" when considering his international future.
“I never really thought about Nigeria, and I do not know who invented that," said the 25-year-old.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had stated this month that it was awaiting documents from the German FA (the DFB) and Sam but that looks dead now with the pronouncement of the winger