Present Eagles not World Cup materials – Coach Odey

Speaking yesterday in an interview with Trustsports, Odey said the quality of the players that represented Nigeria in the Mundial and the circumstances that surrounded their qualification as well as their preparation for the tournament accounted for the failure of the team. Odey maintained that most of the Eagles, who are being overrated by some […]

Speaking yesterday in an interview with Trustsports, Odey said the quality of the players that represented Nigeria in the Mundial and the circumstances that surrounded their qualification as well as their preparation for the tournament accounted for the failure of the team.

Odey maintained that most of the Eagles, who are being overrated by some Nigerians football fans, do not possess the right mental strength and attitude to succeed on a very big stage like the World Cup.

“Our players do not possess the right commitment and attitude required to win matches on big stages. The mental strength to fight back when the chips are down was lacking in them. And that was why they couldn’t build on the advantages they had when they were leading Greece and South Korea.

“Aiyegbeni showed us that his inclusion in the team was a big error on the part of the coach. He failed as a striker in all the matches, but unfortunately the coach refused to substitute him for hungrier players like Osaze, who most Nigerians described as most committed player in the Super Eagles,” Odey said.

The veteran coach also took a swipe at Coach Lars Lagerback for his failure to make good substitution when necessary. He showed ineptitude when Sani Kaita was red-carded in the second match.

“Immediately the player was sent off, Lagerback was completely confused as to what to do and the entire team was in disarray. A good coach should have prepared for such a situation, because situations like that are bound to happen in matches.

“Also, the timing for sacking former coach, Amodu Shaibu, was very wrong. You sacked a coach that qualified his team for the World Cup twice and employed a foreigner who failed to lead his country to the same tournament.

“If at all there was a need to hire a foreign coach, we should have gone for the one that has enviable antecedents, not the one who coached his country for a decade without winning anything.

“At the time he (Lagerback) was brought in, even the best coach in the World would not have achieved anything tangible. The time to understand the psychology and attitudes of the players was not there. But, I don’t blame the coach, he came for the money and he has gotten it,” he said.

On whether Nigeria should continue with a foreign coach or go back to an indigenous one, Odey said, “We are not ripe to jettison foreign coach, because of the attitudes of our players. Our players respect white coaches more than the black ones.

“If you employ even a Chinese coach who cannot differentiate basketball from football to coach our players, they will respect him more than a black coach, irrespective of the level of his mastery of the game. They will listen more to him, even when he teaches them what they know is wrong. The attitude is also present in the players in our football academies.”