Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has explained why Samuel Chukwueze who missed a spot kick in the AFCON semi final defeat to Morocco was picked among the takers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Chukwueze played one of the most non challant penalties at the tournament literally passing the ball to the goalkeeper at a point, where Nigeria were pushing to take the advantage after a save by Nwabali.
The manner which he took the spot kick led to talks about why he was picked among the takers in such a tense game, where only the best should be considered for such a task with many blaming Chelle for the decision.
Speaking yesterday with AfterRMC podcast, Chelle said at the end of every training session the players take penalties, and he chooses the takers based on those statistics.
According to his data, Chukwueze is the best penalty taker in the Super Eagles since he hasn’t missed any of the 150 penalties he’s taken in training, which makes his attempt against Morocco even more puzzling.
He however said there is no hard feelings because even the best takers also missed from the spot.
Ade Emmanuel
