The bit part role that Joe Aribo played for the Super Eagles at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire has been narrowed down to the lack of ideas of former coach of the team Jose Peseiro, OwnGoalNigeria.comreports.
Aribo started his international career with goals for Nigeria against Ukraine and Brazil respectively in his first two games in the colors of the senior national team of Nigeria.
He hasn’t scored in 32 games after that and at the last AFCON he lost his spot to with the duo of Alhassan Yusuf and Frank Onyeka moving ahead of him in the pecking order of the team that went all the way to the final.
Preparing to return to the English Premier League after a year with Southampton in the English Premier League, the representative of the 28 year old explained the reason behind his lack of game time, all through the time of Jose Peseiro in charge including at the AFCON.
” I think he (Peseiro) didn’t have an idea on how to make him (Aribo) play as good as he is at Southampton. It was about his ultra defensive setup which means an offensive player like Joe who likes to move into the pocket is forced to play really deep and far away from goal. His exact role in the team wasn’t specified by Peseiro and that didn’t help him at the AFCON in particular”, he said in a chat with a member of the editorial team of OwngoalNigeria.com.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
