New coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro will in the coming days release the list of players for their upcoming friendly games later in the month.
The list will be the first time, the coach will be totally responsible for the call up of players since his appointment. In his first four games he wants totally in charge as the list for the games were released before his appointment was made official.
One player he has been urged to speak with is Hoffenheim defender Kevin Akpoguma, who has stayed off the team since he wasn’t listed for the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. He was later called up but he turned it down.
We gathered he told the interim coach Austine Eguavoen that unless he is given assurance of regular playing time at the tournament he won’t honour the call up, particularly as the tournament will scupper his fine run of form for Hoffenheim back then.
Eguavoen didn’t give him the assurance hence his decision to turn down the invitation with West Brom defender Semi Ajayi called up instead. Since then he hasn’t been called up to the team.
Speaking to OwnGoalNigeria.com, a chieftain of the Niger Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said his current form calls for a sit down with the new coach to chart a new beginning for all parties.
” We can’t deny that Akpoguma is one of the regular players we have now in Europe. From the end of last season till now he has been playing regular games for Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. We have a new coach and it’s only normal he sit down with him to understand his grievances. The past shouldn’t dictate the present”, he said.
