Former Super Eagles’ striker, Aide Brown Ideye has cast a strong cloud of doubt over the Nigerian team’s chances of qualifying for next year’s FIFA World Cup, Sports247 reports.
Although the ex-international attacker, who last played for Enyimba of Aba after returning to roost in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), admitted he would love to see the Eagles make history at the Mundial, he stressed that their current status does not inspire confidence.
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Ideye, who played for Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine and West Bromwich Albion of England at the height of his career, went on to blame recurring poor organisation for the Eagles’ current woes.
Ideye, who grew up in the Ajegunle area of Lagos, confessed: “With the present form, I don’t think we are going to qualify … unless and maybe if something changes.
“That’s because we always forget to do our job at the right time. We then look for someone else to clean up our mess for us. Why do we keep on doing this?”
He continued by asking more probing questions with regards to how the Super Eagles often leave Nigerian football fans with the unenviable task of making permutations about their chances of moving ahead from very tight situations.
Ideye pondered further, “Why can’t we just win our games and let other people do the counting, the calculations, and the maths? Why do we keep on doing it the hard way?
“We started very, very badly again. It’s very, very bad for a country that has 200 million plus people. Every time the national team is playing, people leave their jobs, close their shops, and put aside everything.”
Ideye ended by stressing that he has lost all confidence in the Eagles and reckoned that many Nigerians feel the same way, such that it would be like a dream if the team eventually qualifies.
The Canada 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup revelation submitted, “Right now, a lot of people have given up on this team. A lot of people don’t believe in them again.
“Even if they eventually qualify for the World Cup, they will have to get to a great stage for people to start believing in them again. Maybe like getting to the semi-final, which we have never, never reached.”
