Abuja National Stadium pitch not up to scratch

Construction giants Julius Berger has offered to resuscitate the playing turf of the National Stadium, Abuja ahead of the very crucial 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifying match between the senior teams of Nigeria and Guinea on Saturday, October 8.

Speaking during a visit by top officials of the Nigeria Football Federation last week, the Managing Director of Julius Berger, Mr. Wolfgang Goetsch said his company was committed to bringing the pitch back to life for the sake of the Super Eagles and the Nigeria Football Federation.

“We are ready to work on the pitch to ensure that the Super Eagles have a good surface to train and play a good match, and also because we like the efforts that the present NFF administration is putting in order to ensure that Nigeria is up there among the best football-playing nations of the world,” said Goetsch.

Already, the construction company has started the preliminary work and expects to finish its work before the Super Eagles commence their training sessions for the big match on October 3.

Nigeria tackles Guinea in a must-win, make-or-break 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifying match at the National Stadium, Abuja on Saturday, October 8, starting from 2pm. The Super Eagles need a win to overtake the Syli Nationale on the top of group B table and earn automatic slot at the 2012 African Nations Cup finals.

On Tuesday, Head Coach Samson Siasia unveiled a list of his 22 players for the match against the Guineans, with five others to join the group for the international friendly against Ghana in London three days later.