CHAIRMAN of the Technical Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Felix Anyansi-Agwu, says Super Eagles’ poor performances immediately after the 2014 World Cup was not because of the ineptitude of the technical crew. Rather, he blames Nigerian players, whom he accused of lacking the zeal and commitment to continue fighting for victory when the stakes were high.

 Speaking in the wake of Cote d’Ivoire’s emergence as the new kings of African football by beating Ghana last Sunday at the just concluded Africa Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea, Anyansi-Agwu told The Guardian that the two finalists in the final played their hearts out to earn favourable positions in the championship. He explained that the Eagles could not maintain their pedigree as African champions because most Nigerian players failed to put national interest ahead of selfish interest while playing for the country. 

  Anyansi-Agwu, who is the Chairman of Enyimba Football Club of Aba, believes the Eagles would remain stagnant if the players   failed to change their attitude to national call, arguing that even if the NFF got the best coach in the world for the team, they would keep facing challenges because of greed.

  “The Eagles have a lot of lessons to learn from the just concluded Nations Cup. Our players need to drop the ego and wealth they have gotten over time in the course of their career and play with commitment and zeal to win matches for their country. These factors inspired Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire to the final of the 2015 Nations Cup.

  “In  2013 Cote d’Ivoire were booted out of the Nations Cup by Nigeria, the Ivoirian’s did not give up, they came back to the tournament this year and fought like wounded lions to emerge champions of Africa,’’ he said.

   On the Super Eagles technical crew, Anyansi said the NFF’s technical committee was still working hard to get the best coach for the Eagles, stressing that the announcement would be made soon to usher in the new handler of the team.