Jamaica Set up Unity Cup Final Clash with Super Eagles 

*Chelle Insists Femi Azeez still ‘work in progress’

Jamaica defeated India 2-0 yesterday in the other semifinal to set up a Unity Cup Tournament final clash against Nigeria on Saturday at the Charlton Athletic Stadium (The Valley) in London.

The Super Eagles who similarly defeated Zimbabwe 2-0 on Tuesday to reach the final, last year beat the same  Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz to lift the cup.

Meanwhile, despite Femi Azeez scoring two goals in his debut game for Nigeria against Zimbabwe, Super Eagles Head Coach, Eric Chelle, has insisted that the Millwall winger still has more work to do to be considered a regular in the senior team.

Azeez who played in Ademola Lookman’s role, scored the two goals that gave  Nigeria the 2-0 victory over Zimbabwe.

In Chelle’s review of the game he was cautious in his assessment of Azeez’s performance, highlighting an aspect of his game that still requires improvement.

The Super Eagles gaffer stressed that his primary expectation from the team was high intensity and consistent pressing throughout the match, noting that this was not fully achieved over the 90 minutes.

“The first objective was that they were supposed to run a lot today (Tuesday). It was my first objective, this is what I asked them,” Chelle told reporters at the post-match press conference. 

“The second thing was to make a high pressure, and during ninety minutes they did not.”

Turning his attention specifically to Azeez, the Super Eagles coach offered a mixed assessment, praising his output while also pointing out technical flaws in his play.

“So we have to analyse particularly the performance of Azeez. Also he scored two goals, congratulations. But technically, he lost a lot of balls, so I’m not happy. He got many balls back but sometimes he didn’t get the balls, so I’m not happy.”

Despite his criticism, Chelle indicated that he will make a decision regarding Azeez’s involvement in the upcoming fixtures against Poland and Portugal in June.

“But for the first time, we can say ‘Congratulations Azeez’. And we will see after. If I wake up with a good state of mind, and I want him in the team for the Portugal and Poland games, I’ll say yes, but if I don’t want I will say no.”

Born in London, Azeez remains eligible to represent the national teams of England and Spain despite his debut for three-time African champions Nigeria.