Former Flying Eagles coach, John Obuh, believes Nigerian players would have been among the best players being sought for by top European clubs in the transfer market if they worked hard to improve the standard of their game.
Obuh, who says he is worried by the low patronage of Nigerian footballers in the European market, accuses the players of easily being deceived by cheap money instead of working hard to be among the best in their career.
The former national U-17 coach explained that the duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona star, Lionel Messi, are always focused on getting better in every game, which at the long run guarantees financial rewards.
To change the trend, Obuh wants the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and domestic league coaches to educate young footballers on the benefits of building their talents first, which guarantees the financial benefit.
He recalled that Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, former national team stars, Emmanuel Amuneke, Taribo West and Victor Ikpeba, among others, were able to play for top European clubs because they already had the grounding in the game before moving to Europe. “The truth is that Nigerian players have not done well enough to earn good contracts from top clubs. For them to get it right in Europe, they have to forget the money and focus on building their skills.
If a Nigerian player finds his way to Europe and gets a club, the next thing he does is to come back to the country to flaunt his wealth forgetting that he needs to work harder to get to his peak,” he said. “Great players like Messi and Ronaldo are dominating the world now because they work hard on their own to improve on their skills everyday… they believe being in form would bring in more money for them. Nigerian players need to be educated to make sacrifices. Hard work brings success,” Obuh said.
