A
former Super Eagles defender Taribo West has pleaded with Stephen Keshi
to recall team captain Joseph Yobo as Nigeria prepare for their last
Group F World Cup qualifying match against the Flames of Malawi.
Yobo, who was a key player for
Fenerbahce in last season’s campaign in Turkey, last played for Nigeria
at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa where he featured as a
substitute in most of the games. He has since been left out of the team
as Nigeria played all their matches in the qualifying rounds for Brazil
2014.
The former Everton defender recently
lashed out at Keshi for leaving him out of the team while the coach has
insisted that Yobo remains the team captain. But Taribo is not convinced
that Keshi has Yobo in his plans, a situation, he said cost Nigeria an
impressive outing at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil.
The former
Inter Milan and AC Milan defender said the Super Eagles defence lacked
quality at the Brazil event and could be worse at future games,
insisting that the team missed Yobo at the competition.
“None of those defenders has the
experience of Yobo. I don’t understand why Keshi left him out and
included players that have yet to experience top football,” Taribo said.
“If there is any misunderstanding
between player and coach, this is the best time to bury their
differences in the interest of Nigerian football. Keshi cannot afford to
leave one of his best players out of the team and expect the rest of
the team to perform miracles on the pitch. What Yobo played for his club
in the Europa League showed he is still one of our best in Europe. How
can Keshi be the only one that is not seeing this?
“Nigeria’s defence was embarrassing
against Spain and Uruguay at the Confederations Cup. It was clear there
was no coordination among the players. It wasn’t that they couldn’t
match up with both teams, they just had no way of stopping them each
time they broke through the midfield.”
PUNCH
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