Former Super Eagles handler, Chief Adeboyega Onigbinde has revealed the difficulties he faced during the selection of players to the Korea/ Japan 2002 World Cup when he was at the helms of affairs as the chief coach of the Super Eagles.
The Modakeke chief said he practically picked players from the gutters and have only three months to groom them to face world powers at the world cup in Japan.
He made this known during a live interview on a sports show on Saturday Afternoon on Jordan FM.
The 1984 Africa Cup of Nations silver winning coach revealed that he was in Trinidad and Tobago when he was called to take over from the late coach Amodu Shuaibu and Stephen Keshi of blessed memories because the team performed below expectations at the Africa Cup Nations in Mali 2002.
With less than three months to the world cup, the veteran coach said it was difficult to pick the best players possible for Nigeria because the majority of the experienced players are not ready to part of his team apart from only Kanu Nwankwo and Austin Okocha.
‘ None of these players is ready to play,” Onigbende further said “I was shown a letter written by the players by the football federation that all players said unless I invite all of them that I cannot invite some and leave some, I have to work with rookies available”. Sports247 gathered.
The former member of the FIFA technical said some of them later joined the team but he regretted selecting them because they actually came in to sabotage his effort. ‘Some of them later join us but they failed to give their best and sabotage the team’. Onigbinde fumes.
The Octogenarian, however, singled out Kanu Nwankwo and Austin Okocha for praises as they gave their all to ensure that Nigeria has a good outing at the world cup and during the preparatory games which he said was highly satisfactory.
It can be recalled that not only Kanu and Okocha made the list. Players like Celestine Babayaro, Joseph Yobo, Ike Shoromu and Taribo West made the team from the disbanded one. Questions are raised when Taribo was flat-footed in defence, allowed the Batistuta header, caused a penalty against Sweden which gave away Nigeria’s one goal lead. Despite that Taribo wept bitterly after Nigeria was shown the way out of the world cup.
The Korea/ Japan world cup was Nigeria third world cup appearance, and it will go down as the first world cup at which the Super Eagles will fail to win any of their games in the history of the world cup.
The Nigeria team, composed largely of debutants, can only pick one point from the possible nine after their first three games to finish last in their group. The Super Eagles lost to Argentina by 1-0 in the first match and followed it a loss when Sweden defeated them by two goals to one and drew goalless with the English national team in their last group match. The performance was one of the worst by the Super Eagles at the world cup.
Recall that the late Amodu Shuaibu led the team during qualifiers to the world cup but he was replaced immediately after Mali 2002 debacle. Though the team returned with a bronze medal, the disagreement between the players and NFF over allowances and bonuses led to irreconcilable differences between both parties which led to the disbandment of the team few months to the world cup and the sack of the coaching crew led Amodu Shuaibu and assisted by Stephen Keshi both of blessed memory.
Adeboyega Onigbingbe led the team to the world cup to become the first indigenous man to coach the Super Eagles at the world cup. He gave players like Vincent Enyeama, Femi Opabunmi, Efetoborie Sodje, Ogbeche Batholomew and some other young players the platform to expose their talent to the rest of the world and the rest was history.
