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Goodluck approves payment of $3.85m to Super Eagles ahead of second round match.


altNIGERIA has made $3.85m available to the Super Eagles ahead of their second round World Cup match against France as part of a government plan to motivate the players in a bid to get them to set a new record in the tournament.

Having qualified for the second round of the World Cup, the Eagles are now hoping to create a new Nigerian record and reach the quarter finals for the first time. There are hopes that the team will even beat the African precedence of reaching the quarter finals which Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana achieved in 1994, 2002 and 2010 respectively.

To boost the morale of the team, President Goodluck Jonathan approved the  payment of the money to the players and sports minister Tamuno Danagogo will arrive in Brazil today to further motivate the team. President Jonathan himself will travel to Brazil if the team qualifies for the quarter finals to cheer the Eagles on from the stands.

According to sports ministry officials, President Jonathan approved the payment after speaking with team coach Stephen Keshi and team captain Joseph Yobo on Thursday. Dr Danagogo will personally hand the money to the team when he arrives in Brazil later today.

 “I am aware that he already has received all the necessary papers to carry such amount of cash and the protocol team is set to receive him at the airport on Sunday. The players will receive the money on arrival or first thing on Monday before the match,” the ministry official said.

Apparently, the money is $250,000 above what the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had calculated and agreed with the players. In the past, bonus payments have caused rifts between players and the NFF, so this time around, the government is keen to ensure that there are no distractions.

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