The former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria John Obi Mikel says the senior national team of Nigeria has dropped down the pecking order in the list of feared team in Africa.
Nigeria missed out on the qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar losing out on away goal rule to Ghana in the playoff of the qualifiers. Mikel said the failure to qualify for the World Cup tops the decline that has been evident over the years.
” The failure to qualify for the World Cup didn’t happen by accident. It was a steady decline which started in 2019 I think and as at 2020, the team has lost the fear factor it had two years ago. People forget how good we were in 2018″, Mikel said in a video made available to OwnGoalNigeria.com.
Speaking further, he said other African countries caught up with Nigeria by employing the right coaches to tinker their national team. In his words teams like Morocco, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Cameroon and Egypt have now moved ahead of Nigeria within a space of four years.
” You see the kind of coaches Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, Senegal and Egypt have had in the past four years. You’ll agree with me that it was intentional. Coaches who understand the team’s strength and weaknesses. Work out a quick way to get the best and here they are now”, he said.
” With all due respect to those responsible for appointment of coaches in Nigeria. We haven’t had the best for the system that is best for our players. Talent isn’t missing in the team but harnessing them for a common goal is the missing piece. Super Eagles have been left behind in Africa”, he concluded.
