TheCable

The technical crew of the Super Eagles must work on the psyche of the players to instill a winning mentality in them ahead of the World Cup in Brazil, former Green Eagles winger, Adokiye Amiesimaka, said on Monday.

The 1980 Africa Cup of Nations winner said that the players should be positively disposed to their chances of a successful campaign at the tournament.

“What I have observed about our players is that they seem to be more conscious of not losing than winning. There is a difference between playing not to lose and playing to win,” he told NAN.

“We don’t seem to play to win. If you watch Brazil, Spain and Germany, these are teams that play to win; their mentality is that they are better.”

This, Amiesimaka argued, is an attribute that is lacking in the team’s players.

“That is why a sport psychologist will go a long way towards making these players all-rounders. Football has gone past just kicking the ball around.

“The composition of the team has given us an idea of what the coach wants but the players’ mentality is not positive enough, players need to have more self-confidence in themselves.

“Ordinarily, the players are okay individually; they just need to work on their psyche as a team.”

Super Eagles will open their account at the World Cup next Monday against Iran at Curitiba.