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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