Jonathan splashes cash on CHAN Eagles

Players and coaches of the Super Eagles team B who recently impressed at the CAF African Nations Championship in South Africa on their debut, will get a Presidential treat on Thursday and President Goodluck Jonathan is set to dole out monetary reward to the bronze winning team.

It was gathered that the players will get N1m each, the assistant coaches N1.5m, while head coach Stephen Keshi will get N2m. However, a source close to the sports minister, Bolaji Abudulahi stated that the President, who was thrilled by the Eagles' remarkable comeback against Morocco in a quarter-final match at the tournament, has not declared the amount he will give to the players.

President Jonathan during a church service stated that Nigeria like the Super Eagles will bounce back from the doldrums to be a great country again. The Eagles were 3-0 down to Morocco, but they came back at the break to level up and win the game at 4-3. But they failed to progress against Ghana in the semi-final. In the third-place match they managed to rescue the bronze after a hard fought battle against Zimbabwe.

“It is true that the President will host the team on Thursday. Certainly the players cannot see the president and go back empty handed, but what we don’t know is the amount that will be given to the team,” said the sports ministry source.

No doubt the players will be smiling to the banks having received fabulous bonuses during the tournament. After their win against Morocco the Sports Minister showered the team with a 100,000 dollars (about N16 million), the same amount they got in the semi final desite losing to Ghana.