Ex international, Jonathan Akpoborie has advised the Nigeria Football Federation and the Super Eagles technical crew not to overhaul the bulk of players that represented Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Nigeria defeated Tunisia 1-0 to claim the third-place bronze medal thanks to an Odion Ighalo’s 3rd-minute strike in the first half.
Although some football pundits have started craving for total rejigging of the team after their 2-1 loss against the Desert Foxes of Algeria in the Semi-Final, the former Wolfsburg star, told Soccernet that there are some quality players worthy of donning the country’s colours.
Akpoborie, who was part of the Nigeria team that won the first edition of the FIFA U-16 Championship in 1985, scoring in the final against the then West Germany, also revealed that Nigerians must be proud of the team performances in Egypt.
“I must confess that Nigeria has not really done badly at the Africa Cup of Nations. In football, you can win all the games and that’s why they say you win some and you lose some.
“I really commend the efforts of the players considering the fact that they did their best to win the Third Place, a bronze medal regardless of the fact that they lost 2-1 against Algeria in the semi-final. However, it won’t be fair if our football body (NFF) decide to overhaul the team because that would be like starting from scratch.
“One thing we must understand is that every team came to the competition to win the trophy and it’s only one team that will lift it. Losing to Algerian shouldn’t be seen as a disaster based on the fact that it was a narrow defeat. And it could have happened to any teams.
