Players of the senior national team of Nigeria have reacted to the decision by Austine Eguavoen to include Benjamin Tanimu in the list of players called up to the Super Eagles team for the AFCON qualifiers games against Libya, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Tanimu made the 23 man list for both games scheduled for the 11th and 15th of October respectively, despite the fact that he is yet to taste a minute of action for his new side Crawley Town FC in English League 2, which is the third division of league football in the country.
Capped by former coach Finidi George, while playing in Tanzania for Ihefu FC he was called up as a replacement for the injured Bright Osayi-Samuel for the first set of games in the qualifiers, but he somehow kept his spot despite the return of the Fenerbahce defender.
” You want fight grace”, one of the players said when we sought to know his opinion on the invitation of the defender. ” Finidi benched Chidozie Awaziem for him (Tanimu) in the world cup qualifiers. Na senior man”, another player responded.
However a backroom staff of the team said the 22 year old is riding on the back of a very influential figure in Nigerian politics, who is highly placed in the society and have bailed the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with finances at least twice.
The invitation of Tanimu, who is his main interest in the team is a way to pay him back. His invitation was not entirely the decision of the coaches as they were arm twisted into calling him for the games.
