The Nigeria Premier League (NPL) has condemned a statement credited to Super Eagles’ goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, that players in the top-flight of the country’s league are not ready for international football.
Head, Media and Publicity of the Premier League, Emeka Nwani, floored Enyeama’s assertion that Nigerian-based players were to blame for the loss in Guinea.
Nwani said: “Vincent Enyeama appears to have forgot where he started his career from. I remember very well how he got to Enyimba and then coach Adegboye Onigbinde gave him his big break at the 2002 Fifa World Cup against England. May be if Onigbinde had said then that home-based players were the problem of Nigerian football I wonder if he will be playing football in Israel.”
The NPL image-maker also reminded Enyeama that he should not forget that Super Eagles’ interim head coach, Austin Eguavoen, started 11 foreign-based players before bringing on two home-based, Ahmed Musa and John Owoeri, who are now primed to move abroad.
Nwani said the duo of Musa and Owoeri brought about change in the attacking options of the Nigerian side against Guinea and wondered why Enyeama will not recognise that.
He also pointed to Captain Joseph Yobo’s ccomment about Musa being a player that will become an integral part of the Super Eagles’ setup in future.
“You see what Enyeama said is a total contrast from what Yobo said about one of the home-based players. Yobo praised the talent of Ahmed Musa, so I still wonder why he, Enyeama, will say such when he was formerly a home-based player,” he said.
Nwani added that if a respected coach like Salisu Yusuf of Kano Pillars recognised the talents of Musa and Owoeri, then Enyeama should not condemn a system he benefitted from.
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