Allwell Okpi
As the Super Eagles settle down to the
fact that they won’t feature in the Gabon 2017 Africa Cup of Nations,
two ex-internationals, Taribo West and Garba Lawal, have said the next
step should be the rebuilding of the team with young players such as
Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho, Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi and KAA Gent’s
Moses Simon.
After drawing 1-1 in Kaduna and losing
1-0 in Alexandria, the Eagles now have one last game with Tanzania in
September, which would not matter.
West told our correspondent that the
Eagles lost the AFCON ticket in the first game in Kaduna and noted that
the Egyptians were not better than the Eagles in both legs but agreed
that they were more aggressive and more eager to win.
“In my opinion, our boys didn’t play
like they wanted to win.
They played to instruction; they were
tactically good, but they also carelessly conceded goals. The Eagles
didn’t do well,” he said.
“The only thing that made me happy with
the team was the rebuilding. I was happy that the young players, who
came into the team newly, were able to play together with the likes of
Mikel Obi. If you watched the second leg, you’ll see that Mikel’s
experience showed.
“At this moment, we should start talking
about rebuilding for the future. Most of our younger players that won
the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in UAE and some of the U-23 players are
good. We should be able to merge the two teams and get a team that will
make us proud.”
“At this moment, we should start talking
about rebuilding for the future. Most of our younger players that won
the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in UAE and some of the U-23 players are
good. We should be able to merge the two teams and get a team that will
make us proud.”
On his part, Lawal said rebuilding the
Eagles with focus on the young players in the team that played against
Egypt over the two legs, should be the focus.
He added that the boys tried their best in the games against Egypt but it wasn’t enough.
Lawal said, “We have to focus on
preparing for the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers coming up later this
year. I believe it is going to be tougher than the AFCON qualifiers.
“Iwobi, Iheanacho, Simon and the other
young players that played those two games were fantastic. The way they
played made me confident about the future of the Eagles. The important
thing now is for them to be consistent and committed. The key is being
injury-free. When you are lucky to go through your career without a
major injury, then that is great. I hope they will continue this way.
“They are young and of course they are
the future of the Eagles. Playing time is also important. If you play
every week, you will attain maturity quicker. I believe we should
rebuild our team with these players in the core of it. There are others
we can add to them. A player like Isaac Success is good. He is playing
regularly for his club, Granada, in La Liga. There are a couple of
others.”
Regarding the need to inspire the young
players to be more committed to the national team, West said there was
the need to treat the older players well, particularly when they are
about to retire.
“The way Vincent Enyeama retired was
very bad. It is only in a system like Nigeria you get that. Enyeama
should be retired with a lot of honour and respect. I think Samson
Siasia should try and get Enyeama back and let him retire with honour,
so that the younger players will see a good future in playing for the
national team,” the former Eagles defender said.
“They retired the generation of Segun
Odegbami anyhow; they did it to our generation, now they are doing it to
this generation. Imagine if I wasn’t a pastor, what would I have done?
The system didn’t give me any future. If the present generation do not
see any future in representing Nigeria, they will not go all out to play
and die for the nation.
“We do well in the age-grade
competitions because the players see it as an opportunity to make a
future for themselves. But when they come to play at the senior level,
they will not want to risk their career because if they get injured
representing Nigeria, the country will abandon them. I hope the injury
Oghenekaro Etebo picked up during the Egypt game is not very bad.
Because I fear that the people in the Nigeria Football Federation may
abandon him.
“Two years ago, I had to fight for
Ogenyi Onazi and Elderson Echiejile, who were injured at the World Cup. I
spoke with the then Director-General of the National Sports Commission,
Gbenga Elegbeleye, and told him that he had to do something for those
players. I think he eventually got the then President, Goodluck
Jonathan, to call them and I think they got help somehow.”
West, however, said the Eagles defence
did well against Egypt but failed to concentrate to the end and
therefore conceded cheap goals.
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