The trend of players born abroad playing for the senior national team of Nigeria is one that has been very much the case in the past few years, particularly during the tenure as Amaju Pinnick as the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Pinnick’s idea aligned with that of former coach Gernot Rohr who was at the helm for the majority of his eight year stay as coach of the Super Eagles. There was a massive influx of players born abroad into the team.
That trend was put forward to the new coach of the team Finidi George shortly before he became the assistant coach to erstwhile coach Jose Peseiro, and he gave his opinion about it, saying their is a better way to go about it.
“Now we are running after players that were born in Europe to come back and play for Nigeria. Who will train them for you? You want others to train players, and you wait to convert them to change their nationality so they can come and play for Nigeria? Why don’t you train your own here in Nigeria?” the former Real Betis winger opined in a chat with The Vanguard.
“I am not saying Nigerians born outside should not play for Nigeria, after all, in the past, we had Reuben Agboola and others, but they were just one or two. We were not rushing on anybody born in Europe and playing football.
“All we need do is to work on our home bred players; maybe when you find one or two good ones from outside there, they can come and join the team.
“Not when you read about one player in the UK, and you will want to speak with the father to have him come and play for Nigeria. If you train your team very well, it is they who are born in Europe that will run to identify with the Super Eagles. Put your house in order, and they would, on their own come. Let them be fighting to come.
“If our league is good and our players are top class players, it is their parents who will be telling them to go join the Nigerian national team. So the level is so bad now that nobody wants to play for Nigeria and we are sending people to go and beg parents, please, your son is a Nigerian, let him come and play for his country of origin.
“So let us put our house in order, revive the league, and you will see most of these people running to Nigeria and our national team will be stronger,” the 1994 AFCON-winning midfielder concluded.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
