Kanu raises alarm over state of Nigerian football
L-R Daniel Akpeyi ,Ahmed Musa ,Kelechi Iheanacho , Kenneth Omeruo of Nigeria during International Friendly match between Nigeria against Senegal at The Hive, Barnet FC on 23rd March 2017 (Photo by Kieran Galvin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Nigeria football legend, Kanu Nwankwo has suggested that football may be dying in the country and the fans are fed up with excuses of non-performance of the teams, reports footballlive.ng.
Kanu, who inspired Nigeria to the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and earned 87 caps for the Super Eagles, stressed that the country could not continue on the unfamiliar path of missing out on major tournaments and promoting delusions about ‘Africa missing Nigeria when we are not at the Nations Cup.’
Nigeria missed consecutive editions of the Africa Cup of Nations since clinching the title in 2013, but has found a renewed vigour since the appointment of German Coach, Gernot Rohr.
However, Nigerian clubs have not fared well in continental competitions since Enyimba won their last Champions League in 2004. None of the country’s entrants could make the group stage of the CAF Champions League this year.
The country is also about to lose one of its representatives in the Confederation Cup following Enugu Rangers’ 2-2 with Zesco of Zambia on Sunday. Rangers will be eliminated from the competition if they failed to beat Zesco in Ndola this weekend.
The Three-time African Champions are now on course for a sixth World Cup appearance next year in Russia.
The two-time African footballer of the year, however, commended the current Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles for his selection of young, quality players with the prospect of long playing international careers.
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3 Comments
Good observations by Papilio! These home-based players in clubs that cannot win at any CAF competitions have no business in the Super Eagles squad. Let’s leave sentiments aside, the quality of soccer within the country is low.
Here I would like to contradict. The quality and potential of sporttalent is huge in Nigeria. What is missing are government and professional promotion and modern sports facilities. But as long as we have not eradicated corruption and trialism, nothing will change.
One example is swimming in the Delta region. Instead of promoting talents and building sports facilities, they prefer to kill each other.
As long as we celebrate our perverted and corrupt politicians as Messiahs and carry on tribalism like a mantra, nothing will change. The fact is, we have to blame our selves for our plight; It is in our hands to change things.
On point…
We will review and take appropriate action.