Setting a semi-final target for a country that had won the tournament three times and had been to the final-four stage a record number of times was nothing but a crude ‘joke', according to former Super Eagles forward Daniel Amokachi.
Amokachi has finally opened up about Nigeria's performance at the recently concluded AFCON, where the Super Eagles were knocked out at the semifinal stage by eventual winners Algeria, reports Soccernet.ng
Clearly unimpressed with the Super Eagles performance in Egypt, the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winner has expressed his disappointment at the quality of coaching the national team had while questioning why anyone would set a semifinal target for the coaching crew.
“We got to the third place because of the character and determination of Nigerians not because of the quality of football that we played, and that’s just the truth of it, Daniel Amokachi told The Interview.
“I don’t know how true it is, but the coach said that he was given a semi-final target, for me as an ex-international and a Nigerian, that’s a big joke.
“For a country that already won the title three times, played in the final several times and also won the bronze for many times, I think it’s a joke that we are giving a coach a semi-final target, it shouldn’t be, but that’s the situation in which we found ourselves.
“We just have to keep hoping and praying to get the best; that’s what we are known for in Nigeria.
The ex-Everton attacker however refused to be drawn into the raging debate of whether the Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr has done well with the team and should be sacked or retained.
“I don’t have anything to say about the coach. I only talk about the quality of football which tells a lot,” The Bull said.
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I have been vindicated by someone who had played football and had excelled at it both at local and international levels.
Summary of what had been discussed:
NFA under Pinnick has hired a coach who, with its approval, had only spent all the years it had on the job in tinkering with foreign based Nigerian footballers some of whom did not meet with the required standards Nigerians had expected, without settling down for a first eleven that could have performed more effectively and gone for the gold medal instead of bronze at the AFCON in Egypt..
Since its inception, the FA and the coach it hired had failed woefully to improve on the dwindling fortunes of the local league. As a result, the league could not produce even one percent of the population of players on the national team. Failure.
If, truly, the coach was given a mandate to secure a third position at the competitions, that itself is proof of failure on the part of the FA.
Our national coach should be domiciled in Nigeria, to work and improve the quality in the standard of performance of the local league, and not seek to bring foreign based players together whenever a competition is about to take place.
Our sports journalists should be encouraged to look inwards. Football infrastructure all over the country and the way the game is being managed has fallen apart. There are no sponsors because the quality of administration is nothing to write home about. Local players need the publicity as well and the coverage necessary to give them the confidence and the will to improve on their games.
You were here when people were clamouring that Westeroof should use local players. You saw the result when he tried it just once. Are the foreign players used by Rohr not Nigerians? Assuming the players are not Nigerians don’t forget France won the world cup using United nation players