Metro
No room for benchwarmers -Oliseh
In from Nifemi Daniel…
Newly appointed Nigeria coach, Sunday Oliseh, has warned Super Eagles players to brace up or shape out stating that no player in the lower divisions or benchwarmers will be considered for invitation to the national team.
Oliseh’s predecessor Stephen Keshi was known to call up players from the lower leagues overseas.
But the new Eagles supremo said this must change.
“If you are not playing in first division in anywhere in the world and in Nigeria, you cannot play for the Super Eagles henceforth,” Oliseh warned at a media presentation in Abuja on Wednesday.
“However players coming from the under-aged teams are the only exception to this rule.”
“It’s a great honour to be a coach of this nation,” he said.
“First of all, I am not coming as a Messiah. I am not coming as a man who can single handedly turn Nigeria to Germany. I am coming in to do my best and give if possible 150% all the time.
“The state we are now in Nigeria I think we are all not happy with. Gone are the days we have individual players who can single handedly win a match for you. But we have the potentials and that is our belief and the players must know that it’s an honour to be invited to the national team.”
The Nigeria Football Federation on Wednesday presented Sunday Ogorchukwu Oliseh to the media and the general public as the new Head Coach of the Senior National Team – Super Eagles.
Read also: Oliseh stuck between Enyeama and NFF
On Tuesday evening, Oliseh and his assistants had a robust, 90 –minute meeting with the NFF Technical and Development Committee, headed by Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu, where he unfolded his plans for the Super Eagles.
Nicknamed ‘Passmaster’ in his playing days, during which he won Olympic football gold, the Africa Cup of Nations gold, silver and bronze, and reached the Round of 16 at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup final competitions with the Super Eagles, Oliseh holds a UEFA Pro License and is a member of the FIFA Technical Study Group.
The 40 –year old flew into Abuja on Tuesday evening.
Oliseh will immediately begin the task of preparing the Super Eagles for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier away to Tanzania in the first week of September, as well as an international friendly some days later.
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