Accommodate home-based players to strengthen Super Eagles — Owolabi

Super Eagles’ line up against the Djurtus of Guinea-Bissau during the CAF AFCON qualifier game in Abuja…on Friday

Former International, Felix Owolabi, has expressed shock that Nigerians are expecting players who hardly trained together to produce good result in Friday’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group A qualifiers between Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau.

The encounter, a match day three of the AFCON’s qualifying series, saw the Super Eagles lose 0-1 to the Djurtus of Guinea-Bissau in the match played at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja.

Speaking to The Guardian yesterday, Owolabi stated that some of the reasons like bad pitch, players’ attitude and the coach’s incompetence were mere excuses, adding that failure to listen to past voice of wisdom on the way forward for the country’s football cost Nigeria the match.

“What many people have failed to realise is believing that a set of invited players from Europe would come together and train for three to four days as a team. This definitely cannot and will not work until the administrators listen to past views given on the way forward for our football.

“I heard many complained that the Eagles defeat was caused by the pitch. Some said the players were not committed, while others said it was the fault of the coach not naming the right players in the first 11. But I will say it goes beyond that, we need to start doing the right thing, the right way.

“If we attributed our failure to beat Guinea-Bissau to the pitch, then you have to ask yourself if they played on a different pitch. This reason doesn’t make sense at all because I didn’t hear anywhere the players complained about the pitch. The truth is that the players never had enough time to train together,” he said.

The former