Stop using match rusty players – Ladipo charges Keshi

Posted by admin Headlines, Soccer, Sports Saturday, September 15th, 2012

By JACOB AJOM

The rage is still on from aggrieved Nigerians who are yet to come to terms with the 2-2 draw the Super Eagles had with the Lone Star of Liberia in Monrovia. Former Green Eagles captain Segun Odegbami told Nigerians yesterday that he was still in shock as a result of the result.

On Friday, former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu said Nigerians should stop building castles in the air by expecting too much from the present crop of Eagles whom he described as not better than greenhorns and no where near the shadows of the likes of Nwankwo Kanu, late Rashidi Yekini and Austin Okocha.

And today, President General of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo has added his voice with a call on national team head coach, Stephen Keshi to make tougher conditions for players who pick Super Eagles shirts during crucial matches involving the team.

File Photo: Super Eagles

He counseled that the Super Eagles should not be an all-comers club where “just anybody will have an easy passage to play.”

He added, “The national team must change. The technical crew must give us a team we all can be proud of.”

Speaking ahead of the return leg of the 2013 Afcon qualifier between Nigeria and Liberia in Calabar, Ladipo said, “Keshi and his men must give us a national team of tested players who feature regularly for their clubs. If you are not playing for your club you will be match rusty and when you are asked to play for the national team it will definitely show.”

Ladipo who is also the head of the African Football Supporters’ Union warned, “Keshi must know that if he fails to qualify us for the African Cup of Nations, nobody will be happy with him.”

Consequently, he charged, “Liberia must be beaten. We should not just win them by a lone goal, they must be roundly trounced in Calabar.”

-Vanguardwp_posts