Flying Eagles were ill-motivated for African U-20 Championship qualifier, says Nwosu

Former Super Eagles Captain, Henry Nwosu, has blamed inadequate motivation and poor preparation for the national U-20 team’s failure to qualify for next year’s African Youth Championship slated to hold in Zambia.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, Nwosu, who blamed the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for owing the players their allowances and match bonuses noted that the team would have given all they had to beat Sudan in the last qualifier had the federation given them moral and financial support before the last leg of the tie in Lagos.

He submitted that the Flying Eagles and the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the two biggest competitions in 2017 was a pointer that Nigerian teams vying for international tickets needed stricter supervision to avoid such lapses as witnessed in the Flying Eagles’ build up to the game against Sudan.

“The Flying Eagles could not defeat Sudan because they were not giving enough support by the NFF. The welfare of players in any competition is important because it helps bring out the best in them. The Federation has to look into players’ welfare to forestall these anomalies in future.

“Coach Samson Siasia has also been lamenting on his players’ bonuses and allowances in the Rio Olympics camp and I think the U-23 team will also be embarrassed at the Olympics if the NFF didn’t attend to the financial needs of the players,’’ he said.