Former national team coach, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde has faulted what he referred to as late preparations by Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for the Super Eagles’ mission at the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification play-offs in Morocco.
Sports247 reports that ‘the Modakeke high chief’ reckoned that better arrangements should have been made by the NFF regarding the team’s hotel, mobilisation of the backroom staff, releasing the list of invitees and settling all issues ahead of the competition.
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With the Eagles now set to tango Gabon this Thursday in Rabat and hoping to win the final on Sunday, Onigbinde is of view that starting training on Monday is too late for the team to blend into match-winning form.
The AFCON 1984 silver medal winning coach, who also handled the Eagles at the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, opined further: “It’s still the same mistake we keep making.
“You shouldn’t start preparing for war on the day it comes. You have to prepare ahead of the day. What we are going to achieve depends on what we have put into the team.
“I am not close to the team, but I am a Nigerian and a patriotic citizen. I want Nigeria to do well and reach the World Cup, but I know it doesn’t come by word of mouth.
“We have to prepare well for it, and that’s why I ask, ‘What preparations have we made for this competition?’ It’s not a one-day job. It’s something that should be done over a period of time.”
The veteran tactician concluded by looking further into the future, with a verdict that the NFF and the country’s sports officials in general have to put in place solid structures that would help them develop the round leather game in a well-organised manner.
“We need to talk about proper planning and the right approach to developing our team. We have to think about the proper development of football.
“We need to put in place structures that will help us make long-term plans so that we don’t start preparing for battle just a day to the war,” Onigbinde posited.
