It is no longer news that Nigeria is one of the countries that will be taking part in next year’s FIFA World Cup in Russia after going through an impressive qualifying phase.
A total of 41 players took part in the 2018 Mundial qualifying process even though some of the invited stars didn’t taste a minute of action under either former coach Sunday Oliseh or technical adviser Gernot Rohr.
SHOTS has reliably gathered that some players despite not being part of the qualifying team at all have kick started covert moves through agents that will help them make Eagles team to Russia, starting from upcoming friendly matches.
It was learnt that the players some of who plight their trade in the wilderness see the Russia World Cup as an opportunity to launch themselves into the limelight thereby attracting top quality clubs across Europe.
In a chat, former Eagles left back and member of the Nigeria Football Federation technical committee Garba Lawal says this issue is not new in the world of football and that it is left to the coaches to avoid distractions that would derail preparations.
Lawal also noted that it’s important that players that played active roles in the qualification be treated with importance and respect or else what happened at the Japan/Korea World Cup in 2002 might repeat itself.
“There will always be players that will be willing to do anything to make the final team to Russia despite not being there from the start and the truth it there are a few quality players that will be picked despite not playing any role in qualification.” Lawal started.
“My warning here is that we should avoid the 2002 scenario where players like Finidi George gave their all during the qualifiers but at the end of the day others that didn’t do anything were picked, that spirit is still haunting Nigeria till this day.”
Lawal’s teammate at the 2004 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia, Abbey George believes experienced players like Vincent Enyeama will be vital for the tournament and don’t need to employ any agent to help them get back into the team.
The ex Macclesfield Town star also said that the coaches know areas that should be strengthened and places where there’s already enough talents and should be guided by that.
“There’ll always be players trying to get in but the coaches know where they need more and where there’s already enough. For somebody like Vincent Enyeama, I feel his experience should count for him because in world cups experience matter a lot.” Abbey told SHOTS.
The Manchester based fitness trainer urged Nigeria to get it right this time around in terms of planning and preparations in order to make the required impact at the events in Eastern Europe.
Responding to the issue, a top shot at the Nigeria Football Federation who chose to remain anonymous admitted they are aware of the aforementioned moves by desperate players but that the development is nothing to be worried about as the coaches are highly disciplined.
The chief also highlighted the fact that the technical committee of the Glass House will as usual work alongside the coaches to ensure only the right players are picked.
“The issue of desperate players trying to get in through the backdoor isn’t a new one anywhere but we have disciplined coaches and the technical committee is there to check them. In all, the players who helped us qualify will never be forgotten in a time like this.” He concluded.
