With just a few days to Super Eagles’ ‘make or mar’ 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against the Squirrel of Benin and the Crocodile of Lesotho on March 27 and 30 respectively, there has been great concern from Nigerians due to the withdrawal of foreign-based players from the games as a result of Covid-19 travel ban imposed by some European countries.
The ban which has directly or indirectly affected Nigeria’s preparation for the crucial game should be seen as a wake-up call for Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr on the need to also monitor the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) in a bid to discover a few players that may be useful to the progress of the senior national team.
Besides, the refusal of some of the European clubs not to release key players of the Super Eagles is also a message to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on the need to develop and splash more money on the league so as to make it attractive to the players. By so doing, the majority of them won’t be desperate to travel abroad in search of a contract regardless of what the terms and conditions spell out for them.
It is also paramount to know that some of the domestic league players often misuse the opportunity of playing for the Super Eagles as they immediately board the next available flight to Europe once they don the ‘Green and White’ jersey.
Recall that in the past that a few of them will travel to Europe to undergo trials for clubs that are relatively unknown all in the name of being tagged as foreign-based players, thereby putting serious question marks on their progress or integration into the senior national team.
It is shocking to also note that since the arrival of Gernot Rohr as Super Eagles coach, NPFL players have played a limited role in the team, with the exception of Ikechukwu Ezenwa who has always been among the three goalkeepers invited by the German tactician.
However, should Rohr be blamed for neglecting the NPFL players despite the fact that there are quality talents in the league?
Early last year, Rohr once complained of their attitude, where he said, “We invite them and then immediately, they are going to Europe. It is wonderful for them but maybe not for us.”
Could this have also contributed to why Rohr has failed to extend an invitation to the domestic league players?
Rohr’s preference for selecting players who play in Europe is no secret. The German would call up a player from a second-tier club in Europe before selecting one from the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL).
The whole picture may change for good on March 27 and 30 if only a few invited ‘Home-based’ players prove everything right by smoking out the Squirrel of Benin and Crocodiles of Lesotho to help Nigeria pick the ticket for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations slated for Cameroon.
There can be no better opportunity than the one they has been given to them by the German tactician to showcase their talents and cover up every loophole in the team if called upon to face Benin or Lesotho.
By and large, the NPFL players must change their attitude of rushing to seek a contract in Europe once they represent the senior national team if they hope to gain Rohr’s trust.
By Augustine Akhilomen
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COMMENTS
As for me,I will always support the inclusion of home based players,at least four quality players,2 in the midfield ,1 in the defence and one winger,or even two wingers,this is because our wingers are not aggressive enough especially Samuel kalu who would rather be doing step overs than pass to a team mate,Moses Simon needs serious competition cuz he is now too comfortable and doesn’t play like before.another area I want to see quality home based players are in the midfield,I don’t like the idea of listing defenders as midfielders ,ajayi has been played as a midfielder and it was an eyesore.tyrone ebuehi has been listed as a midfielder too .I want to see a true midfielder,give them a chance first in a friendly or in a match that we don’t really need and if they fail,give them another chance ,should they fail to impress,we can now stick to foreign based players.no one will convince me that semi ajayi will play midfield role better than all home based players playing midfield,no one will convince me that ebuehi who is a RB is will play midfield better than home based players.i need to watch this guys in our national team not CHAN team to be able to make my final assessment.i know what a home based player did in Afcon in 2013 , including omeruo and obaboana who were home based at the time.(not sure of omeruo) I am 100 % sure of what iwuala will bring as a winger if given a chance,I have watched him play and that guy can make any team in the world.
Omeruo was not homebased in 2013. He played in Holland then.
“…i have watched him play and that guy can make any team in the world.”__@Michael
Must we keep fooling ourselves every time?
Can ANAYO make FRANCE 23 MAN SQUAD COME TO TALK OF THE FIRST XI?
CAN HE BREAK INTO GERMANY or BRAZIL 30 MAN SQUAD?
I THINK CAF USE TO PICK THEIR BEST STARTING XI for both CAFCL/CAFCC, where was our world best ANAYO?
THE WAY U PEOPLE TALK JUST TO FAULT ANOTHER PERSON & SHIFT BLAME ON INNOCENT PEOPLE MAKE US REACT AS IF WE HATE THESE LADS.
STOP ALL THESE HYPE AND ALLOW THE YOUNG MAN TO DO THE TALKING AGAINST BENIN REP….
THAT’S HOW THEY WERE HYPING ONUACHU B4 HIS INVITATION, THE LAST TIME I CHECKED THE YOUNG MAN FAILED AND PUT THEM WITH THEIR USELESS HYPE TO SHAME…. BOOM THEY STARTED MAKING LAME, SILLY AND NONENTITY EXCUSES CLAIMING ROHR DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO USE HIM….
THE QUESTION I ASK; THE FIRST GOAL AGAINST EGYPT WHICH ONUACHU SCORED, WAS IT ROHR THAT TAUGHT HIM HOW TO CONTROL THE BALL AND SCORE???
WE’VE A LONG WAY TO GO IN THIS BIOME.
::SHALOM::
So it’s your home based players that can’t play in CCL that is aggressive abi?
Na wa ooooo
How many of our professionals are playing uefa CL
Can your homebased pass trials in the clubs our professionals are playing in…?
How many of your home-based can pass trials in the clubs our foreign based professionals are playing in week in week out…?
@Dr.Drey, I can boldly say that most of the home based players have qualities and are qualified to pass trials abroad.
No place like home and no matter how bad NPL is, we still have talented players in Nigeria.
Dr.Drey, please do your research and before you talk down our home based players because the more you look the less you see.
NFL wasn’t in a good shape but Keshi took almost home based players to Afcon and crowned the continental trophy.
NPL wasn’t good and even bad then, remember that Olishe was able to formed a solid squad that NFF did not pay their salaries and the team crashed out of the tournament after NFF refused to paytheir salaries. You remember Chikatara and co ba?
Please and please, stop misleading people here.
Oga Rohr that is not sound technically and tactically enough should be blamed for this calamity. He do not wanted to be exposed when he called home based players into the camp.
With his foriegn based players, with some games left to be played in every qualifier still, he believed that his team still not good enough.
He still wanted Ighalo and Akpeyi back into the Super Eagles and you are here ridicule the home based players like that?
Coach Westerhof said he was traveling all over Nigeria to built that 1994 team and Oga Rohr that could not win Silver medals with his foriegn based players, he’s the one that will use home based players to qualify Nigeria to Afcon tournament?
Who is deceiving who?
We should just pray that God should be on our side to qualify to Afcon tournament.
Amunike, Egbo Manu Garba and Enyeama can work around the clock to build a solid home based team between now and next Saturday to face Benin Republic and Lesotho and I can guarantee you that they will make the Afcon ticket for Nigeria within the short of period because we have talented home based players here in Nigeria.
The issue here is simple and clear. We need a strong team that can represent Nigeria.
Is not about qualifying to Afcon is the main issue but we want to win trophies and having a solid team is not negotiable.
Yes, NPL is nothing to write home about but that is not an excuse for having team B for Nigeria.
Let’s call a spade a spade, Oga Rohr, Mr. Amaju Pinnick and the current NFF are there for their own interests. They are not for you and I.
Wake up Nigerians. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
I don’t see this trend of local players using the national jersey as a badge of approval and fleeing to Europe ending soon. Come on, have we forgotten a most powerful advice: Use what you have to get what you want. What ws the name of this holy man who was leading Israelites out of Egypt? He was getting fidgety about the safety of his people when the Egyptians were closing in on them. God asked him: “What are you holding in your hand?”
“A staff!”
The man must have been wondering what God was driving at. What would a small staff do against a multitude of armed Egyptians.
God thundered: “Strike the sea with it.” And behold the sea parted for the Israelites to escape lunching.
Any boy who got that badge and didn’t use it, should see a head shrink.
Augustine akhilomen I think that CSN need to sack u because u are letting this great company down i have followed u up for sometime now 99percent of ur posts are just for criticism,i don’t know if you are always paid to do that,u better steps up to be a better journalist,u can’t find ur type anywhere in the world
Mumu you think everyone is fool like you and your badwagons. Go and sack him make thunder fire you there….. What do you know about sack you people will come online and writing nonsense when you should mind your hustle. Continue wasting your life typing rubbish alongside UBFE every now and then.
Poverty itself @stupid Samuel I don’t really want to poor malediction on u so don’t push me to do that,i have never mentioned u here so if you want to seek for attentions don’t use me, beef like u
Well, i see one simple logic from this write up. When a player from NPFL is invited to the national team, and they are given chance to showcase what they are capable of, the foreign clubs who need their services come calling. And expectedly (since they are not bastards), their services are secured by a greener pasture and they are on the next plane, which simply means they are no more NPFL player. Hence, if the league (NPFL) quality is not improved (at least to a reasonable level), there will not be tons of NPFL players in the super eagles. This is because Rohr (like every coach with a common sense), would not succumb to keep inviting different faces from the local league, all in the name of having local league players (that will be off the league in few months) in the national team.
However, the logic behind blaming the local players for agreeing offers to join a better and more financially stable foreign clubs is completely “non-Nigerian” and non-thoughtful. So, in my opinion, the only solution is to urgently improve every aspects of the local league, from the commercials, to the infrastructures to the players welfare. In reality, this will take years…trust me. Just my opinion though.
@Abdul.
Abeg;
It’s never your opinion ataaaaallll…
This is our daily cry…. Improve the league, care for the players welfair, put up good and quality infrastructure, bring in good sponsors et all….
STOP BLAMING A FOREIGNER FOR YOUR FAILURE…
U invite a player and boom he moves to one european obscure league where NPFL is even more competitive than… He’s now expecting the coach to call him again….
If the coach refuse, their internet wailers will quickly display another name for the coach to invite.
If the man refuse, insisting for the last person he invited, they start accusing the poor man of not giving room for homebase…
So this man should keep inviting homebase and by the time he want to make use of them he finds none….
We’re beyond that…. Wait untill after 2022…. Our quadiolas would come and turn our national team to alaba international market again…
:::SHALOM::::
@ Abdul and UBFE, May God bless you both as I honestly can’t fault Augustine Akhilome report this time around. Only a mentally deranged coach will keep inviting new batch of homebased players after every one or two matches, wherein the previously invited ones move to foreign leagues.
https://youtu.be/-0hO1e1Q8RI. Is this the Anayo Iwuala please? Or is there another one?
This guy will be a big hit in Belgian, dutch and french league
Sportsfan to me Anayo still has a lot to learn with his final ball. He has the Strength but he still needs a good coach to help polish him. I don’t think he is ready for first team SE football.
@ Chima Samuel, very good eyes you’ve got. We can only encourage the boy Anayo Iwuala but from what I see in this video he surely has a long long way to go to get to the needed SE level, but anyway, sometimes there can be a surprise element from players under different circumstances. Let’s hope that eventually become the case. Otherwise it’s looking from this video that it will all end up to be another jamboree invitation. The only positive about this player is his low centre of gravity.
The person that posted this bitter truth is in trouble.
Pls becareful on how u unveil this bitter truth else.
Sometimes we do as if we don’t know what is going on just to make them happy.
HAHAHAHAHAHA….
As we all know, these people keep telling us Rohr doesn’t give room for homebase but i remember when certain UTIN & EFFIONG were given opportunity and the next thing was for them to rush to obscure leagues in europe…
Dear poster;
Pls permit me to make some correction on your first paragraph….
The afcon qualifier between SE and Benin is never a “MAKE OR MAR AFFAIRS”…. WE NEED JUST ONE (1) POINT DEPENDING ON THE OUTCOME OF THE OTHER MATCH IN THAT GROUP…. In other words; if
BEN. vs NIG. & LES. vs S.LEONE ends in draws, both NIGERIA & BENIN REP. are through with a healthy one game to spare….
INFACT IT COULD BE THAT ONCE LESOTHO vs S.LEONE MATCH ENDS IN DRAW, WE QUALIFY WITHOUT KICKING ANY BALL WITH 2 HEALTHY & WELL-FAVORED GAMES TO SPARE….
THANKIU SIR….
:::::SHALOM:::::
Not sure how true this news if from owngoal.com but the guys from uk may be available afterall
Osimen too has indicated his availability for the match according to reports from owngoal as well.
Sigh of relief for Nigerians and GR lol
Read the same thing. Only time will tell.
We always tend to miss the bigger picture on why the cycle of home based SE invitee today majorly sees the opportunity to go as a platform to go “abroad,” even if it’s in Angola.
Some commenters even keep heaping all the blame on the LMC & NPFL. Yes, like typical Nigerian politicians and civil servants, these bodies are typically case studies of corruption, incompetence and lack of commitment.
But the bigger question is: Why are home based players in Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, Morroco not always jumping ship at the slightest chance? Are their league management members all angels over there?
It’s all about the dollars, the exchange rates, the economy. The same reason most of you “escaped” abroad at the littlest ray of light is the same reason that is propping these home based footballers. Just different industries and circumstances, but the same thinking and intention.
What am I even saying? Don’t just say ‘fix the league,’ say first, ‘fix Nigeria. Fix the economy. Fix forex etc.’
The league, the LMC, the NPFL etc are all microcosms of Nigeria. They cannot really be fixed in isolation.
If home based players find the local league attractive and more financially rewarding like in South Africa, most won’t care about “abroad” things and we’ll enjoy watching the NPFL again like in the days of BCC Lions of Gboko, Ranchers Bees of Kaduna, IICC Shooting Stars, Bendel Insurance, Flash Flamingoes, Calabar Rovers, Abiola Babes, Enugu Rangers, Iwuanyanwu Nationale etc.
Kele scores again, the dude can’t stop scoring oooo.
KELECHI IHEANACHO JUST SCORED AGAINST MANCHESTER UNITED!!!! STILL LOTS TO PLAY IN THIS MATCH. BUT WOW FROM KELECHI. HES GOING FOR THE PLAYER OF THE MONTH AWARD DEFINITELY (FOR MARCH). HOPE THEY CAN WIN THIS GAME. LETS SEE HOW IT GOES
WHY IS ROHR IGNORING BRIGHT OSAYI SAMUEL?
Please some one should comment on this guy. He has power, pace and strength. Though he needs to work on his end product, but which current Nigerian winger doesnt.
Rohr has always taken Samuel Kalu, a player that has failed to live up to expectation at both club and national team level. I am suspecting that Rohr might have something to gain from this player, either from his club Bordeaux which Rohr has a stake in this club or the fact that Rohr and Kalu has the same agent.
Please guys help me understand?
LEICESTER WINS MAN UTD 3-1, KELECHI SCORING 2 GOALS AND HE HAD A HAND IN THE 2nd GOAL. HE HAS REALLY IMPROVED HIS GAME. HE IS A REAL THREAT INFRONT OF GOAL. HE IS DEFINITELY GOING FOR THE PLAYER OF THE MONTH OF MARCH. THIS IS GOOD NEWS FOR LEICESTER AND NIGERIA. WELL DONE IHEANACHO