A top scout for top European teams has lamented the poor qualify of the players that represented Nigeria at the recently concluded U20 AFCON, where they finished third.
Godwin Mitchell who has vast experience of covering tournaments for European clubs particularly in Africa picked just three players from the coach Aliyu Zubairu tutored side.
Although they secured their main aim of going to the tournament which is qualifying for the world cup, the team received knocks from several quarters due to the way they performed at the tournament.
” Only three players have what it takes to play for the youth teams of top clubs in Europe. I can tell you it’s the same sentiment with most of the scouts who were here for the tournament. The Nigerian team got a lot of our attention due to their past antecedents but we were not impressed with what we saw”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.com.
” Let me say the goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt at 15 is an exceptional talent and the best in the team. Then the left back Odinaka Okoro is very good for teams that play possession based football. I like the captain Daniel Bameyi a lot but he is too short to be a center back for any European team.
” Even his partner is not bad at all but Kparobo Arierhi who is in Norway is the third player I can tell you will thrive in Europe. Although he needs a lot of work on his positioning and body shape in the box. It’s why he only scored one goal and missed a lot”, he concluded.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
