ABUJA- Nigeria Football Federation former secretary-general, Alhaji Sanni Ahmed Toro shot a look at that friendly match against Colombia and stated deep disappointment with the spate of players’ withdrawal from the game.
He wondered in an exclusive interview with brilafm.net whether the Glasshouse carried the players along right from the start and warned that the purpose of the encounter against Los Cafeteros could be defeated.
“It’s unfortunate, but the FA ought to have known the number of players that would be available for the encounter and get them to train together.
“It’s not just good to invite everybody at once, because you would be giving room for some to pull out since many have been called for the match,” he reasoned.
The soccer administrator-cum-politician, while acknowledging that the match was just a friendly, warned that poor players’ attitude must not be carried over to the Nations and World Cup qualifiers proper.
On the other hand, FIFA and CAF technical committee member, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde has stopped short of slamming Super Eagles players for withdrawing from last Wednesday’s friendly match against Colombia.
Rather than take a swipe at the withdrawing players, the Modakeke high chief stated on Sports Radio 88.9 Brila FM’s soccer-only programme, Football 360 Degrees that Eagles coach, Shaibu Amodu should have gotten replacements elsewhere.
“I agree with soccer fans that the players are not expected to pull out of matches once they have been invited by the national team. However, that is not to say it is compulsory for them to come.
“This is where the coach has to play a key role in lining up replacements for any player that fails to turn up. He should not always rely fully on one player or the other. Let’s look in other directions to get our players next time around,” he advised.
Onigbinde stated further that the nation’s football has not been properly managed and the players would rather pledge their allegiance to their club sides which pays their salaries.
“We all have to agree that these players earn their salaries from their respective clubs and so they would want to keep their jobs.
“It has to do with the way we manage our football because a situation where players feel they are indispensable is really disturbing. We have to make sure there are numerous players to select from at all times,’ the football veteran explained.
On the measures to be taken to curb such occurrences, the Modakeke high chief said punishing erring players would not be of help to the situation as it would further prove that they are really needed in the team.
He, however, maintained his stand that having good substitutes would be the best for the country. Onigbinde said: “Punishing the players is not the best thing to be done as this would further prove that they are invincible and indispensable.
“We need to have good substitutes that are equal to the task and are ready to fit into the team at any time.”
Onigbinde also shed more light on the importance of that friendly encounter which we lost 0-1 to the Los Cafeteros of Columbia saying the result would have an influence on the nation’s position in the next FIFA rankings.
“It was a Grade A match and the outcome would push us down the ladder. We must therefore take every match we play very serious next time,” he posited.
On his part, ex-youth international, Carlos Binebi Numa has stated that he sees nothing wrong in that massive withdrawal of Super Eagles players from the international friendly against Colombia.
The China ’85 Golden Eaglets star told Brila FM that withdrawals from the match could be as a result of fatigue arising from club engagements.
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