Former Super Eagles’ captain and head coach, Sunday Ogorchukwu Oliseh has raised concern and warning bells over negative effects that missing next year’s FIFA World Cup could have on the careers of the Nigerian national team’s top players.
Sports247 reports that, with the Super Eagles’ chances of picking a ticket to USA/Canada/Mexico 2026 – the first World Cup to be co-hosted by three countries – looking slim by the day, Oliseh pointed out that Nigeria’s biggest players of the current generation may end up never gracing the most glamorous stage for global football.
He admitted that most of the obstacles standing in the Eagles’ path to glory are usually caused by inadequate planning from egg heads of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), but quickly added that the players have to find a way of succeeding against all odds, in order to boost their careers.
The outspoken former midfielder, who was fondly called ‘The Passmaster’ during his playing days, argued: “The players have to know that they have to succeed in spite of the federation. You have to do it yourself.
“You have to get yourself together and make sure you are focused. At the end of the day, these players are not aware of the damage they are doing for themselves.”
He then took a look at some permutations and calculations of years that would be lost once the Eagles miss back-to-back editions of the Mundial for the first time since their maiden qualification came during his days with the team in 1994.
Oliseh added, “You play almost ten years for the Super Eagles, and you don’t qualify once for the World Cup! How do you rate yourself when you stop playing?
“The ones who are going to miss out now already started playing for the Super Eagles two years before 2022, but they missed the last World Cup.
“The 2026 World Cup is now coming, and they likely won’t be there. That means another four years is gone. That means they will miss almost ten years, and that’s damage to their careers.”
The very articulate ex-international, who starred during his heyday for Ajax Amsterdam of Netherlands, Juventus of Italy and Borussia Dortmund of Germany, among other clubs, concluded with a charge to Nigeria’s national team players to always take the bull by the horn when donning the green-and-white jersey for the sake of their careers.
“I’m not trying to blame it on them alone. I just want to point out that everybody has a portion of the blame, and our solution is that we just have to really sit down and face issues squarely,” Oliseh submitted tersely.
