Leicester City risks losing Wilfred Ndidi for more than three months after picking up an injury few days before the Africa Cup of Nations tournament
Ibrahim Gusau, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation, has assuaged fears surrounding Wilfred Ndidi’s departure from the Super Eagles squad ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, Soccernet.ng reports.
Ndidi, a key player in Peseiro’s squad, has been replaced by Royal Antwerp player Alhassan Yusuf after sustaining an injury ahead of the Super Eagles AFCON 2023 campaign.
In an interview on Francis Achi’s YouTube channel, Gusau, the number one authority of the NFF, stressed that he does not feel unduly concerned about Ndidi’s absence from the squad, emphasising the team's ability to perform well even without the midfielder.
“I don't have any tension because I know we played a lot of matches without Ndidi, and we won a lot of matches without Ndidi. We played a lot of matches with Ndidi and lost unexpectedly, so it's not about Ndidi, it's about the national team of Nigeria,” he remarked.
Yusuf, currently making an impact for Antwerp, notably scored a goal in their UEFA Champions League match against Portuguese opposition and provided an assist in their victory against Barcelona.
Gusau expressed confidence in Yusuf's potential contributions to the AFCON campaign, citing his impressive performance against Barcelona as a positive indicator.
“The young boy that was brought in now, Yusuf, is also doing wonderfully well with his team. When they played against Barcelona, you can see the performance he put on in the win against Barcelona in the Champions League,” Gusau stated.
Drawing parallels to Sunday Mba's pivotal performance in AFCON 2013, Gusau hopes that the young Nigerian talent, Yusuf, might replicate a similar impact.
“He's also a young boy, maybe it's an opportunity for him to do a miracle. Don't forget everybody did not have confidence in Mba when we went to the AFCON in 2013 and at the end of the day Mba was part of the players that performed a miracle,” Gusau noted.
Highlighting the team's focus beyond Ndidi's absence, Gusau reiterated, “Nobody knows what Yusuf is going to be in the team, so it's not about Ndidi, it's about the Super Eagles.”
The Super Eagles are scheduled to face Guinea in an upcoming preparatory match before heading to Cote d’Ivoire for their AFCON campaign.
The same religion and tribal bigotry that is destroying the country is the same thing that is being replicated in the National team. How can a whole NFF Boss say he’s not perturbed by the absence of a major player like Wilfred Ndidi?. You can encourage the players and the country without necessarily undermining the contributions of Wilfred Ndidi to the National team. Why the clamour for old Musa if experience doesn’t count? You don’t destroy a player to build another player.
What sort of crass, discourteous and uncultured talk is this by no less a person than the NFF president? Discarding the importance and contribution of Wilfred Ndidi to the team with such utter disrespect and disregard. I have not seen the full speech, but I doubt he even expressed any concern for the well-being of the injured midfielder.
Then he goes on to refer to a full-grown professional footballer– Alhassan Yusuf– as a ‘young boy’. Such an unprofessional air of arrogance and condescension. The total lack of class, pedigree and administrative capability that his every single word mirrors is painfully jarring and brazenly embarrassing. His words reflect the uncaring and irresponsible attitude that the people running the football affairs of this super-talented country have towards the players and the game.
We all know the team comes before any single player, but you can say this while appreciating the importance of Ndidi to the team and at the same time expressing support for and belief in the player replacing him. All these things are mutually inclusive.
I doubt he even watched the highlights of the Champions League game he refers to!
And then, as if to display a different dimension of his ineptitude, Mr President not so subtly implies we need a ‘miracle’. We are going to the AFCON with one of the most star-studded teams on the continent, and yet we are supposed to primarily rely upon baseless optimism and the intervention of God– as usual. That the head of the NFF has this mediocre mentality is proof that the stock in trade of our football (and generally, sports) administrators is dependence on chance and fate, on miracles, rather than on proper planning and preparation.
While it might do little to change their rotten attitude towards their jobs or the players, these wannabes presently in our football administration need, at least, some basic training in public relations/giving press statements and a good old dose of common sense and courtesy.
It is high time we allow ex footballer to head NFF. How can someone who has never been a player know or understand what injury meant for a player? His utterances lacks administrative etiquette.
Who is this man? Do you know what injury meant to a player.
Some of this needs sanity test before employment with all due respect.