While Sunday Oliseh continues his dirty fight over his outstanding salary arrears owed him by the Nigerian Football Federation, there is no doubt he might not have been given the resources he needed to succeed by the football house,
Yet that still doesn't change the fact that Oliseh set Nigerian football decades backwards in his short reign.
Being a controversial and authoritative figure all through his playing days, which ultimately led to his dismissal in the national team after the 2002 AFCON tournament in Mali, which also was the end of his international career; it was surprising again that he was appointed the national team coach in October after the sacking of Stephen Keshi. One of Oliseh's greatest weaknesses is his inability to reason properly before acting or talking. Also one of his unforgiving sins in the national team is the unceremonious relegation of seasoned Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who had been the longest serving player in the team since coming into the team in the the 2002 World Cup tournament in Japan and Korea. This led to a messy media fight by the duo with many fans calling for the head of the former Juventus and Borussia Dortmund defensive midfielder. It did not end there , as he appointed CSKA Moscow winger as the new captain ahead of Chelsea's John Obi Mikel.
This is the reason it was welcomed when John Obi Mikel was appointed the captain by new coach Samson Siasia yesterday . The jubilation reached high heavens after former Ahmed Musa announced it in a press conference. While Musa's patriotism and zeal are not to be doubted, it is important to note that Mikel is the most senior player in the team after the retirement of both Joseph Yobo and Vincent Enyeama. Mikel made his debut on 17 August 2005 in a friendly win over Libya. Mikel is also the only surviving member of the 2006 AFCON team. Also it is on record that Mikel is among the only few players to have gradually eased their way from the U-17, U-21 and then the senior national team. With 64 caps already, Mikel surely deserves the armband. While Musa is still young and has accumulated 54 caps already at 23, it is clear that since making his debut since 2010, he has rarely missed a game for the Eagles since then .
Having said all these , Mikel clearly deserves the armband more than anyone else in the team . We only hope he leads the Super Eagles to victory against the Pharoahs of Egypt today at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna, like he did in his first tournament in the 2006 AFCON when he came from the bench to provide the assist for Christian Obodo from a corner and then again score
his first international goal against the Warriors of Zimbabwe in the group stage.
No comments:
Post a Comment