Shaibu Amodu wants Nigerians to give his team a chance
Nigeria coach Shaibu Amodu has pleaded for the country's fans and media to be patient with the Super Eagles.
The team has come in for severe criticism since they drew their recent 2010 World Cup qualifier in Mozambique.
The coach has been subjected to calls for him to be sacked, despite a 100 percent record in earlier qualifying rounds.
"The players are disappointed and aware of the enormous task ahead of us," he told the BBC.
"But the fans and media should understand that we have only drawn a single competitive game so far."
Amodu said the pressure from the public could have a damaging effect on the team's bid to make it to South Africa next year.
"They [the fans] need to understand that the pressure will affect the players psychologically and will only weigh them down," he said.
"We need the understanding and support of everyone and not the negative criticism."
"We took over the team after a bad outing in Ghana [at the African Cup of Nations] and gradually we are moving them away from that mentally."
"After the Mozambique game, they [the players] understand that there are harsh lessons to learn but we must stay together to develop into a force."
Amodu's critics point to poor performances against Colombia and Jamaica as well as Mozambique as evidence the team risk missing out on going to the World Cup for the second time.
But the coach is unperturbed.
"I have a mandate to qualify the country for the 2010 Cup of Nations and World Cup," he said.
"So far I remain confident we are capable of achieving that, but to get there we need time, patience and support of everyone."
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