After being overlooked by Super Eagles head coach Austin Eguavoen for Nigeria’s World Cup play-off clash against Ghana, some players in the Nigeria Professional Football League has lamented being left out of the squad for the crucial qualifiers, The PUNCH reports.
Eguavoen on Friday released the Eagles’ 32-man provisional squad to face Ghana for the World Cup play-off games later this month, with no single player from the Nigerian league listed.
It’s not the first time the local league players have voiced their frustrations at being excluded from the national team. Erstwhile coach of the team, Gernot Rohr, did not hide his preference for overseas-based stars in over five years in charge of the side, but with the appointment of Eguavoen on interim basis in December, the NPFL stars were hoping for a change of fortunes.
However, the players were left disappointed once more after the list for the clash against the Black Stars was released and none of the home-based players were included.
“It’s a very big issue because it’s obvious that they don’t regard the NPFL players. I see no reason why players from the league cannot be invited, even if it’s just three,” MFM goalkeeper, Jerry Isaac, told The PUNCH.
“Let’s check other countries national teams, they usually have at least two or three home-based players, but the reverse is the case here. It’s so unfair how they treat us and it bothers me because the message they are sending to us is that the league is just empowerment to help alleviate poverty.
“But the bad part is that they deceive us by coming to watch matches and yet they can’t find any good player. We know we have good players that can make the team and that’s why we don’t really get encouraged.”
Plateau United captain, Golbe Elisha, rued the death of former Eagles coach Stephen Keshi, saying he gave the local lads the chance to express themselves on the global scene.
“Since the death of Keshi, who was the last coach that gave the opportunity to NPFL players and the players represented us well, we’ve not had other coaches looking our way.
“The likes of Sunday Mba and others did well but now we don’t get the opportunity because they seem to focus more on the players based abroad. That’s not the best option because we have good players in the league.
“Even the goalkeeping department that we are having issues with, we have good ones in the league that can help solve the crisis. As a captain, I feel really bad and this doesn’t speak well of our league.”
Akwa United’s Seth Mayi added, “Playing for the national team is something every player wants, but it’s unfortunate that we don’t really get the chance. I know we have very good players that can blend into the national team but we haven’t been invited and most of us feel bad about it.”
Another player from MFM Adebayo Alimi blamed the league’s standard on the players’ snub.
“I believe the snubbing of local-based players is based on the league, the coach watched some matches and he can’t say he hasn’t seen a few players from the league who are good enough. I believe if given a chance we’ll give the foreign players a good fight for shirts.”
