The minister for sports senator John Enoh has questioned the commitment of the players born abroad playing for the senior national team of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Super Eagles of Nigeria currently have around six players who were either born or raised abroad playing for the team led by William Troost-Ekong, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, Ola Aina, Semi Ajayi, Joe Aribo, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Calvin Bassey among others.
Speaking on the composition of the team on Eagle FM, the minister questioned the commitment of some of the players to the Nigerian course due to the fact that they don’t have strong roots here in the country.
“We have in the Super Eagles about 90% of players not born in Nigeria. Do they have the spirit, the fire of a Nigerian player born in Nigeria?,” the Sports Minister asked in an interview with Eagle7 FM.
“There are some players in the team who are not good enough for the Super Eagles. “We talk of the quality of the coach, but what of the quality of the players in the team?”
“Like many Nigerians, I didn’t have much confidence (in the Super Eagles) before the AFCON. “But the god of soccer wanted us to win but we bungled it in the final.
“It was a performance that got us to forget the quality of the team.”
