A former Super Eagles’ defender, Sam Sodje has expressed a strong ray of hope that the current set of players in the Nigerian national team should be able to beat Rwanda and South Africa in their upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Sports247 reports.
Sodje, who was born in England and started his career at non-league side, Stevenage Borough in 1998, took a closer look at the provisional list of 31 players invited for the September 6th clash with Rwanda in Uyo, then away to South Africa on the 9th, and reckoned that all the selected stars are up to the task of winning both games.
He then urged Nigerians to allow Eagles’ technical adviser, Eric Chelle to fully concentrate on the task of picking the right set of players to prosecute each of the ties, which he described as ‘very important games’ that would decide the Eagles’ qualification fate.
The 46-year-old former stopper declared, “They all know the task ahead, so they will come prepared. So, when it comes to the selection of players for the games, I think we should just leave it to the manager.
“That’s why we got someone for the job and we pay him a lot of money to make such a decision. I believe he’s going to pick the right players, as he has done with the list.”
Sodje, who played only five matches for the Eagles between 2005 and 2009, went on to affirm that Chelle will pick in his starting eleven for each game only those among the invited players who can fit into his desire for victory from both forthcoming fixtures in the second to last round of the World Cup qualifiers.
The former centre back, who featured for several clubs in England before retiring at Portsmouth in 2013, pointed out, “(The coach will pick) those he understands, who he knows will give him results and will fit into his system.
“So, we should allow him work, and that’s what we’ll judge him from. Whichever player is picked, he believes they are capable of doing the job. These are very important games, and hopefully, they will win. Good luck to them.”
Sports247 recalls that this member of the famous Sodje football and rugby playing brothers had a short stint with Skoda Xanthi of Greece in 2010, but played most of his active days with clubs in England.
Born on May 25, 1979 and officially nown as Okeremute Samuel Sodje, he starred for Brentford, Reading, West Bromwich Albion, Charlton Athletic, Watford, Leeds United and Portsmouth.
