Chris Maduewesi
Member
Yakubu Aiyegbeni has said that the Super Eagles of Nigeria didn't deserve to qualify for the 2015 African Nations Cup tournament.
The Al Rayyan of Qatar striker said that the present Super Eagles team lacked experience in their ranks, adding that the influx of new players contributed in Nigeria's failure, also point to a flawed rebuilding process.
Nigeria missed out on a place in Equatorial Guinea after finishing third in their qualifying group, with South Africa taking the first two positions.
And Yakubu who has represented Nigeria at three Nations Cup competitions, said the teams who qualified ahead of the Super Eagles were the better team.
The former Everton and Blackburn striker, faulted the manner old players are being discarded from the Super Eagles, making references to older players elsewhere who still play for their countries.
“Nigeria didn’t deserve to be at the Nations Cup because we didn’t get some things right during the qualifiers. Other teams playing at the tournament deserve to be there because they worked for it,” Yakubu told The Punch.
“I think the team is gradually taking shape again after the misfortune of not qualifying for the 2015 Nations Cup. They had their chance to win and qualify but they couldn’t, so they have to go back to the basics and check what went wrong.
“These days, Nigeria believe in rebuilding the team every year. In other countries, they still have the older and experienced players. In Nigeria, if you play for nine years, people think you’re too old to be in the team; they’d say you have been there for too long and they need younger players, even though you play regularly at your club. But we have to stop that mentality if we must be consistent at the top.
“(Andrea) Pirlo is 35 and is still playing for Italy, he’s still one of the best players in the world. Ivory Coast still have some of their more experienced players still playing in their national team, even though they’re rebuilding the team. Same with England, where players like (Steven) Gerard and (Frank) Lampard inspired the younger ones in the team before they retired. You can’t just push the experienced players away like that and expect to build a strong team overnight.
“It’s not enough seeing a player score a goal at his club in Europe and you think that’s enough to earn him a place in the Eagles. I don’t even know some of the players in the Eagles these days, they just bring anybody from anywhere. But we have players who feature regularly for their clubs in Europe and America and were never called up to play. That’s how bad Nigerian football has become.”
The Al Rayyan of Qatar striker said that the present Super Eagles team lacked experience in their ranks, adding that the influx of new players contributed in Nigeria's failure, also point to a flawed rebuilding process.
Nigeria missed out on a place in Equatorial Guinea after finishing third in their qualifying group, with South Africa taking the first two positions.
And Yakubu who has represented Nigeria at three Nations Cup competitions, said the teams who qualified ahead of the Super Eagles were the better team.
The former Everton and Blackburn striker, faulted the manner old players are being discarded from the Super Eagles, making references to older players elsewhere who still play for their countries.
“Nigeria didn’t deserve to be at the Nations Cup because we didn’t get some things right during the qualifiers. Other teams playing at the tournament deserve to be there because they worked for it,” Yakubu told The Punch.
“I think the team is gradually taking shape again after the misfortune of not qualifying for the 2015 Nations Cup. They had their chance to win and qualify but they couldn’t, so they have to go back to the basics and check what went wrong.
“These days, Nigeria believe in rebuilding the team every year. In other countries, they still have the older and experienced players. In Nigeria, if you play for nine years, people think you’re too old to be in the team; they’d say you have been there for too long and they need younger players, even though you play regularly at your club. But we have to stop that mentality if we must be consistent at the top.
“(Andrea) Pirlo is 35 and is still playing for Italy, he’s still one of the best players in the world. Ivory Coast still have some of their more experienced players still playing in their national team, even though they’re rebuilding the team. Same with England, where players like (Steven) Gerard and (Frank) Lampard inspired the younger ones in the team before they retired. You can’t just push the experienced players away like that and expect to build a strong team overnight.
“It’s not enough seeing a player score a goal at his club in Europe and you think that’s enough to earn him a place in the Eagles. I don’t even know some of the players in the Eagles these days, they just bring anybody from anywhere. But we have players who feature regularly for their clubs in Europe and America and were never called up to play. That’s how bad Nigerian football has become.”
