Amuneke warns Keshi not to discard foreign pros
By ROMANUS UGWU, Abuja
Tuesday, March 07, 2012
Amuneke
Contrary to the pressures from many Nigerians, urging Super Eagles’ Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, to build his team around the now tested home-based players, Nigerian former international, Emmanuel Amuneke, has argued that the team still needs the services of the foreign professionals.
The Eagles’ former utility player, who spoke with DailySunsports in an exclusive interview recently, maintained that instead of even limiting the invitation to only established pros, Keshi should equally call up other Nigerians in the European lower division leagues.
Asked if fielding only home-based players in the encounter against the Amavubi of Rwanda would have guaranteed a better result, the Golden Eaglets’ assistant coach, said: “It is always very difficult to please everybody in coaching.
“If Keshi had fielded only the home-based players, people would have criticised him for excluding the professionals if the result had ended the same way it did. What we have to do is to respect the space and work hard because the home-based have much to prove.
“Over the years, they have taken away their confidence and Keshi is trying to establish that confidence. It is obviously not going to be an easy ride, it is going to take time for them to be composed and expose themselves to face challenges. “Of course, he needs the experiences of foreign-based players who are willing to give their best, not only just wearing the national colours. He needs players who are ready to give him their best.
“Again, I think what we can equally do is to extend our hands and reach out to other Nigerian players irrespective of where they are playing whether in European second division. So long as the player has something to give to the nation, we must give them opportunity to prove themselves. We should not limit the options to some players,” he noted.
The former gaffer of now defunct Julius Berger FC of Lagos also argued that the barren draw result in Kigali was not a bad one, insisting: “To me, it is a good result especially if we take into account what happened in the last edition of the African Nations Cup.” “The tournament started with surprises when teams we call minors made the tournament ahead of other football giants in the continent. It also ended with Zambia of all teams winning the tournament.
“It was an indication that football has improved. It shows that football is now beyond overheating the media and talking too much. What it means is that we have to sometimes humble ourselves, work very hard and allow God to do the job,” he prayed.
