Some of the foreign based players that participated in the four training sessions of the Super Eagles under the new Chief Coach Sunday Oliseh since their arrival on Tuesday for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifier away to Tanzania in Dar es Salaam have been complaining of tiring training schedules.
Some of them who spoke in condition of anonymity with SportingLife said that in as much as they respect the new Coach and his determination to turn around the fortunes of the team but their body system is not used to the “hard training” they were subjected to in Abuja since their arrival.
One of them complained to SportingLife in Abuja, “We are happy to play under Coach Sunday Oliseh because we watched him when he was playing for the Eagles. He was a very devoted player during his playing days and we know through our interactions with him his aspirations and desire to make the Eagles excel under him. The problem, however, is that his training method is hard and stressful.
“You can also ask some of my colleagues that flew in from Europe they will tell you the same thing. We have been faced with rigorous training here in Abuja since we arrived and I can confess to you that the sessions have been really hard and stressful,” a senior player from the team disclosed.
A close official to the team, however, told SportingLife that Oliseh had to do this to make the players very fit for the AFCON qualifier against Tanzania.
“You know that the league in Europe has just started and not many matches have been played by the clubs over there. Oliseh believes that if a player is fit the rest is simple. So he has been working hard on the players’ fitness since they arrive from their respective clubs in Europe. I don’t think the training schedule is as difficult as it was painted to be,” the source said.