President Goodluck Jonathan has wished the national football team the Super Eagles the best of luck and enjoined them to win the FIFA 2010 World Cup in honour of Nigeria as the country celebrates 50 years of nationhood this year. The president bid the team good tidings at the send forth dinner organised in their honour at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja last night, saying “I call on you (the team) to bring home the golden cup as a present for our country’s golden jubilee.” The president said that the first World Cup to be held on the African continent would not have been complete without the presence of Nigeria, and asked the players, technical crew and the other accompanying officials to see the Mundial “as a call to national duty.” “As the main actors it is your duty, especially Coach Lagerback to ensure that we perform well. You must see yourselves not just as footballers but as ambassadors of the country,” Jonathan stated. Jonathan paid a special tribute to late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua under whose tenure the Eagles secured the ticket to the World Cup. “May I use this opportunity to pay a special tribute to Yar’Adua for ensuring that we qualified for the World Cup.” Even though the packed hall expected the traditional clear monetary promise to the team as reward for their performance in South Africa, the president was not forthright on the matter but chose to leave it open until delivery day. “Members of my staff have been asking me exactly what promise I’ll make to the Eagles especially given this opportunity. But what I’ll tell you (the team) is to play well and win and be sure that you be well rewarded for your effort,” he said. In a show of solidarity and support for the World Cup outing, Jonathan announced that he will be in South Africa at the start of the competition. He will watch the opening match between hosts South Africa and Mexico on June 11 and then watch the Nigeria versus Argentina game in Johannesburg the following day which will be the first match for the Eagles in the month-long event. In the welcome address, the president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Sani Lulu pleaded with Nigerians to fully back the Eagles in their attempt to win the World Cup. “This is the time for all of us to join hands, support the team and do away with the pull down syndrome. We pray that by the grace of God we’ll deliver the trophy to President Jonathan in another ceremony like this in July.” The event was attended by all the invited players who arrived the country between Wednesday and Thursday morning except for John Utaka and John Mikel Obi who both stayed back in London to fully recover from illness and injury respectively. The sports minister Ibrahim Bio led the sporting world to the occasion while NFF’s partners Coca-Cola, Cadbury’s Tom Tom and Guinness were fully represented. Having held their first training session under Lagerback last Thursday in Abuja, the Eagles will leave for London today. They will camp in England, play friendly matches and then travel straight to the South African venue of their first round matches from the United Kingdom. They will play against North Korea on June 6 in their last warm up match before the battle for the most coveted soccer trophy begins. Source: Thisdayonline.com