Former Nigeria captain, Austin Okocha, on Saturday said football in the country is “long dead and gone” and has refused to blame the Super Eagles or coach Stephen Keshi for the team 0-1 defeat to Sudan in Saturday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
A ferocious header by striker Bakri Abd Elgadir in the closing stages of the first half flew past goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and put the hosts ahead of the African champions.
The result means Nigeria now walk a tight rope towards qualifying for the biennial African football showpiece billed for Morocco in 2015.
Okocha leapt to the defence of the current crop of players and the coach, insisting the nation’s game is failing immensely.
“Anyone that blames Keshi or the boys is short sighted. Our football is long dead and gone. This is just the confirmation” Goal quoted Okocha as saying on his Twitter handle.
Stating that the result of the match has put the national team in a “very unusual situation,”Okocha cautioned against unfairly criticising the Super Eagles and the coaching crew.
“We are in a very unusual situation. The question is: ‘do we deserve better considering the state of our football affairs in recent times?’ Anyone that blames Keshi or the boys is short-sighted. Our football is long dead and gone. This is just the confirmation,” the former Nigerian midfielder tweeted.
The teammate of the Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, however, praised the South African national team for their 2-0 triumph over their host, Congo, adding that Nigeria should step up their game.
“Well done, South Africa. It is not the result most Nigerians expected, though. But we have to step up our game and grab the next six points to have a chance,” Okocha added.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have been divided over the Super Eagles’ slim chances of qualifying for the 2015 African Cup of Nations following the Sudan defeat.
While some social commentators argued that Keshi should voluntarily throw in the towel or be sacked, others said he should not be unceremoniously removed.
Hashtags such as #keshiOut, demanding Keshi’s sacking, have since gone viral online. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
Oko bro, Not only football gone dead, everything in that country called nigeria has gone dead nothing is working again there, full of frustrating,confusion & bored.
ReplyDeleteTell him.Whether you blame Keshi or not he is the coach.Aftersll Keshi is your brother.We can understand but look at Keshi fielding Mike in the much revered number 10 position.It is a pity
ReplyDeleteJay Jay,you know how much we Nigerians and the whole world rated your performance in the Nigerian midfield, especially wearing the number 10 shirt.
ReplyDeleteCould you kindly rate the performance of the current occupant of that revered position, Mikel Obi? Your response could be very helpful so please be sincere.
dos crop of playerz na nyash..abeg make una lose d remainin 3matches,make evry1 save rest..atleast dt money dt wl b shower on u wl b use 4 anoda tin.....fake obi,fake onazi...everytin 4 our football don jagajaga...wer idirs abdulkareem dey joor....
ReplyDelete