Former internationals Joe Erico
and Yisa Shofoluwe say the Super Eagles need a
game-changer to reclaim their dominant place on the continent.
The Eagles have been struggling
since they won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
Shofoluwe said the Eagles failed
to create enough scoring chances against Egypt in their Gabon 2017 Africa
Cup of Nations qualifying reverse fixture in Alexandria on March 29,
hence Nigeria lost 1-0.
“It was a painful thing to see that the
darling team of Nigerians won’t be at the Nations Cup again for the second
consecutive edition,” the former Eagles defender told our
correspondent.
“Before we won it in 2013, we didn’t qualify
for the 2012 edition. We again failed to qualify for the last
edition of the tournament in 2015. The problem with the team is quite much but
the major one is that the coach has yet to find a playmaker for the
team.”
The former Abiola Babes star added, “The team
have had three coaches in the last two year but they have not been able to get
that player who can effectively distribute the ball and also create good
scoring chances. That was what hurt them against Egypt in Alexandria. In
Kaduna, the chances came because the Egyptians were cautious and defensive but
when they came out to play in their own backyard, it showed that we had no
playmaker in the team.”
Former Eagles assistant coach Erico
said, “Until we have a quality creative midfielder, we will be struggling
to beat teams in Africa. The Eagles have changed their tactics from playing
through the wings to midfield play, which is as exciting as could be.
“For now, I am happy with the young
players we have in the team. But most of them are attack-minded. Any
coach hired now should look at the team and get a playmaker for them or adopt a
pattern that will suit the kind of players we have currently.”
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