A former icon in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), Taiwo Oloyede has come out with a bold declaration that the Super Eagles need home-based players to help them win the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, Sports247 reports.
The former midfielder with the Lagos-based duo of Stationary Stores and Julius Berger FC made the declaration while speaking during ‘Hot Seat’ segment of Inside Naija Sports, a live streaming programme on YouTube, broadcast at 2:15pm every Friday from the television studio of Sports247 Naija.
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While also advocating for a system of continuity and progression through the various age-grade squads, Oloyede pointed out that many of the Eagles’ current array of players are no longer committed to the team.
Oloyede moaned, “There is no continuity in our team, and that is the biggest problem that they are facing. There should be continuity from the under-17 team to the senior level. Let them graduate into the under-20, then under-23, and finally to the Super Eagles.”
He then turned attentiom on AFCON 2025, which is scheduled to start on December 21st, and called for a situation in which the Eagles’ crew would rely mostly on players from the NPFL, instead of those based abroad.
Oloyode projected, “As for the Nations Cup that is coming up next month, they should just blend home-based players with those from abroad. They should put more trust in our home-based players.
“There should be an overhaul of the present team, and many of them have to be dropped. They are not committed to the team. Let’s invite players from the Nigerian league and camp them for a month before we invite some of those from abroad to come and join them.”
When reminded that the home-based Eagles could not win this year’s Championship of African Nations (CHAN), Oloyode reasoned that the players learnt a good lesson at the competition, even as he reckoned that past examples should be applied for the upcoming outing in Morocco.
“I remember how Clemens Westerhorf used players from our league in 1990, and they got to the final. The same applied in 2013, when Stephen Keshi won the cup with players from our domestic league.
“We can win this coming competition once we put enough trust in players from our league. Just camp them early, treat them well, and you’ll see what they can do,” Oloyede posited.
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