Francis Uzoho is unhappy with the decision of the coach Jose Peseiro to hand the number one spot to Stanley Nwabali in the Super Eagles first game at the Africa Cup of Nations, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
Uzoho was for the first time since the appointment of Peseiro made to sit on the bench when he is available for selection. Nwabali was handed a chance and the Chippa United shot stopper didn’t do badly although he wasn’t tested.
A source in the camp of the team said Uzoho was stunned when he found out that he won’t be in goal for the game against Equatorial Guinea, which ended in a 1-1 draw. He voiced out his unhappiness that he wasn’t informed privately before the decision was made public.
” It’s normal for Uzoho to react negatively to getting dropped because he has been the first choice since the coming of the coach. It came as an unpleasant surprise to him and most of the players. He was unhappy as well that he wasn’t taken into confidence before the decision was made”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.
” To be fair, Uzoho has done really well in training and also in his conduct in the camp. Although there was an issue with a player that I won’t mention but it was largely not his fault and even at that he kept his calm all through”, he stated.
Peseiro is expected to stick with Nwabali for the game against the host on Thursday after coming through his AFCON debut unscathed. A decision is however not made according to what we heard.
” Maybe Nwabali will continue in goal but you never can say because we are up against the host. So Uzoho’s experience might be needed in games like this. It’s up to the coach to decide”.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
