The decision of Jose Peseiro to invite Daniel Bameyi to the senior national team of Nigeria for the upcoming back to back AFCON qualifiers games against Guinea Bissau has stirred a lot of discussion.
Bameyi plays for non league side Yum Yum FC and recently captained the Nigeria U20 team to a third place finish at the U20 Africa Cup of Nations, the team also qualified for the World Cup by finishing among the top four teams at the tournament.
At the tournament, he wasn’t seen by many as one of the top players in the team and even in defence, he lost his spot as the centre back to Abel Ogwuche when he got suspended. When he returned, he was shifted to right back.
Benjamin Fredrick who was his partner in central defence for the group games was largely hailed as the star of the team but surprisingly the Simoiben Football Academy graduate wasn’t handed a call up.
Responding to the discussion surrounding the invitation of Bameyi, Peseiro explained that although he likes Frederick a lot, Bameyi got the nod due to the fact that he can play in as a right back and also as a centre back.
“As you can see, I choose two right backs, two left backs, three centre backs and Bameyi who can play right back and centre back, four midfielders, four wingers and four strikers.
“We want to build a team with balance. There are other players who are maybe better than Bameyi in Nigeria U20 team, okay I like the centre back (Benjamin Frederick) but can he do the same in the same position? No”, he rounded up saying.
Damian Waziri
