Ex-international Friday Elaho has urged the Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro not to invite players who are not seeing regular playing time at their clubs to the national team.
Elaho, a member of the silver-winning team to the Algiers 1990 African Cup of Nations, still backed the Portuguese despite the team losing 1-0 to Guinea-Bissau in the first leg of the AFCON qualifier played at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja penultimate week.
The 55-year-old said that the number of years a player has featured in the national team does not matter and shouldn’t be invited if he is not active in his club side, saying the Eagles shouldn’t be regarded as a rehabilitation centre.
“I want to advise the coach to do away with players who are inactive in their clubs regardless of how long such a player has been playing for the national team. We have to consider the overall interest of the team instead of using the squad as a platform to rehabilitate players. We could see that some players were rusty and that will always affect the rhythm of the squad. So, going forward, the coach has to consider only players who have clubs and are playing regularly,” he said.
The former Brondby of Denmark star added that the Eagles would learn from their loss to Guinea-Bissau that no country is a pushover in football.
“I felt a little bit disappointed that we lost to Ginea-Bissau here in Abuja but then again, that is football. Our opponents are nowhere near us in terms of pedigree and quality of stars but they came here and beat us which showed that if you underrate any side in football you could pay dearly for it.
“Some people complained that there is something wrong with Abuja Stadium especially because we also lost the World Cup ticket there but I can tell you that football is funny and you could be beaten anywhere if you don’t do the right thing. It has nothing to do with whether the stadium is jinxed,” he added.
The former Bendel Insurance player added that Peseiro still needs more time and he shouldn’t be harshly criticized yet.
