Nigeria lost their second friendly match
in a month after the 1-0 defeat to Peru in Lima on Thursday. But former
Green Eagles defender Yisa Shofoluwe tells OLUFEMI ATOYEBI that the losses will soon be forgotten
Peru’s Jose Paolo Guerrero scored from a
flamboyant move that involved Schalke 04 striker Jerferson Farfan in
the 37th minute of a friendly encounter with Nigeria early on Thursday
in Lima, the capital city of the hosts.
It was a sweet end to a flowing move
that started from the hosts’ area as they ran away with victory in the
first match involving the senior teams of both countries.
However, former Green Eagles defender,
Yisa Shofoluwe, says Nigeria should forget about the 1-0 loss and
embrace the positives from the encounter. He also warns that disaster
may be around the corner if the balance of the current Eagles team being
built by Stephen Keshi is upset by players agents’ influence and
interest of a few Nigerians.
“I was unable to watch the match because
it was played in the early morning of Thursday and I had training with
my team in the morning. But I listened to comments and analysis of the
match on my way this morning (Thursday),” says Shofoluwe. “In my view, I
think we’re where we should be at this moment.
“South American football is the most
entertaining in the world today and it has produced great stars that
have put light in world football. If Nigeria could brave the four-day
journey to Lima in Peru to play so well and lose with such a pardonable
margin, then we should celebrate those home-based guys.”
There was enough excuse though for the 1-0 loss.
The Nigerian team had a travel hitch on
their way to Lima, which stretched the journey to four days. They even
slept on the floor of the Madrid Airport in Spain after missing a
connecting flight.
What’s more, Keshi stood his ground to
leave out big European stars like Osaze Odemwingie and Champions League
winner, John Mikel Obi, sticking with the same home-based group and a
sprinkle of up-and-coming players abroad, which included Gege Soriola of
Free State Stars of South Africa as a late cover for injured skipper
Joseph Yobo, and four others.
But despite travel difficulties, Keshi
kept all the five foreign-based on the bench and fielded an all Nigerian
league team. Shofoluwe says the beauty of the team now is that they are
improving as a group and not as individual players.
Shofoluwe said after his return from
Belgium, where he had played professional football, he had called for a
national team with home touch, which would not make the country to rely
solely on Europe-based players.
“What happened more than two decades ago
has passed, but it has a place in our football history,” ‘Dean of
Defence’ Shofoluwe says, recounting the glorious moment Nigeria had in
the 1994 World Cup in the USA and the failure to build on the result. “I
saw a lot of positive ways of building a team when I was in Belgium and
I thought our people would listen if I said something.
“Belgium as a nation does not have the
talents we have in Nigeria but they build on what they have. In those
days, the Belgium national team was a force in world football. We had
our time of breakthrough, but we were contented with the little
achievement we had. We should have established a system that would
replace ageing players, but we felt that a player could play for so long
in the national team. Players do but not five out of 10 will give you
such a result.
“I’m happy that Keshi is adamant on what
he feels good for Nigeria. The home-based boys are the future of the
nation’s football. If we think that the national team should be built
around foreign-based players, how many of them are playing at the top
level in Europe?”
Shofoluwe adds, “The truth is that the
boys Keshi is using today will play better and in bigger clubs in a few
years if their development and dreams are well-nurtured.
“I’m aware that some powerful Nigerian
football agents, with connection to some of the so-called big players
abroad will be looking for a way to get Keshi’s attention on behalf of
their clients. They should leave the coach to decide what he wants.
We’ve manipulated a lot of things in Nigeria and that is why we have had
slow development.”
Statistics from the match on Thursday
morning in Lima showed that Nigeria created 13 chances and did not
score, hitting the post once. In their free-flow football style, Peru
got more from the midfield and launched eight quick attacks, more from
counter moves, scoring once.
Farfan would have had the curtain raiser with a free-kick stopped by goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim before Guerrero scored.
With the goals rare to find, Shofoluwe
said Keshi, being a defender, would naturally give attention to the
defence, putting hopes on assistant coach Daniel Amokachi to find
solution to the scoring problems. He takes side with the inclusion of
strikers from the foreign leagues that have recent proven records.
“We made good decision when we said
Nigerian coaches should lead our teams,” he argues. “Keshi was once a
defender and maybe that is why his team is improving defensively, but he
has Amokachi, a deadly striker in his days, as assistant.
“Maybe he should look beyond and include
two or three good strikers from abroad. They must come from a
competitive background and feature for the clubs regularly. They must be
regular scorer as well.
“If we had good strikers in the match
against Peru, I’m sure we would have scored two or three goals. So it is
essential that we get it right in the striking positions.”
http://www.punchng.com/sports/eaglesloss-to-peru-pardonable-shofoluwe/
No comments:
Post a Comment