Super Eagles defender at USA ’94 World Cup, Emeka Ezeugo, does not share the enthusiasm of his erstwhile teammate and current national team coach, Stephen Keshi, that Nigeria can win the World Cup.
The Big Boss earlier in the week had praised the character and attitude of his players, saying this might see them surpass the second-round achievement of the USA ‘94 Eagles.
“Yes, Nigeria can win the World Cup,” Keshi had said. “Those who win the World Cup, do they have two heads?”
But speaking with TheCable, ‘The Destroyer,’ as Ezeugo was fondly called during his playing days, said he didn’t see the team going far in Brazil. He hinged his pessimism on the calibre of players in the team’s back-line.
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Ezeugo who first played for Nigeria at the 1988 summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, said players like Elderson Echiejile, Efe Ambrose, Kenneth Omeruo, Godfrey Oboabona and Joseph Yobo are ordinary players who can’t be mentioned in the same breath as the class of ’94 comprising himself, Chidi Nwanu, Ben Iroha, Austin Eguavoen, Uche Okafor, and Stephen Keshi.
“We lack world-class players in the defence,” he said.
“The players in that department are not good enough. Well, they are good, but ordinary. They are good in their own class, but world-class? No, never. And you can’t win the World Cup with an unreliable and poor defence.”
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Ezeugo,49, still believes, though, in lady luck and fortune.
“I wish the team all the best in Brazil,” he said.
“I’m just saying things the way they are. With a bit of fortune, they could get to the World Cup final. It happened at the last Africa Cup of Nations, and it could well happen in Brazil.”
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2 comments
Good piece. Ezeugo says it as it is. Keshi and some of the players are only trying to fool us. They can talk the talk but we know they don’t have what it takes to walk the walk. Winning the World Cup is no childs play as our glaring frailties will be exposed. With luck, we can get to the quarter finals…
Keshi is just being optimistic and sentimental. Most Nigerians share Ezeugo’s view that the current crop of players are not just good enough for the Semis talkless of winning “THE WORLD CUP”