With the Super Eagles’ chances of qualifying for next year’s FIFA World Cup appearing to have finally faded with their recent 1-1 draw away to South Africa, a former midfielder in the Nigerian squad, Friday Ekpo has already started thinking of a revival strategy for the team.
Sports247 reports that Ekpo believes the Eagles’ resurgence should start with the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, which will hold from December to January, hence his verdict that a new plan has to be set in motion for the team.
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He reckoned further that, since the World Cup ticket may already be beyond the Eagles, they should use the remaining matches of the qualifiers to kick-start their AFCON preparations.
Ekpo suggested, “We should use our last two games of the World Cup qualifiers in October to see the good ones that we can add up.
“Once we are through with that one, we can then start inviting home-based players to join the foreign-based ones.”
The former creative midfielder, who was one of the stars of Nigeria’s bronze winning squad at Senegal ’92 AFCON, continued by pointing out that there would be limited time after the last World Cup qualifier for preparations towards the continental showpiece in Morocco.
Ekpo noted, “We have October/November before the Nations Cup competition. So, we would have less than 40 days to do this preparation, because they will still be active with their various clubs.
“We should then invite those who are starting games for their clubsides, not the ones coming from the bench or entering with five minutes to go. We should consider this and many other factors.”
He concluded with a view that the Eagles need a blend of new players with some of the older ones in order to mix vibrant youthfulness with experience to make the Eagles strong again.
“We should look at other players who are playing good football with their clubs so that we can include them. We should start bringing in young players and see what they can do.
“We need a new generation of players, and we can build on them so that, by the end of 2026 into 2027, we can have fresh and younger players in the team.
“Some older ones will be there too, because we also need experience in the team. We need young ones to come in gradually and take over from the old ones,” Ekpo submitted.
