Super
Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, on Tuesday placed a ban on European trials
by Super Eagles players, saying the development was disrupting the
building of a strong home-based national team.
Addressing the players
on Tuesday, Keshi said he was frustrated by players strolling in and out
of camp on the excuse of embarking on trials in Europe and other parts
of the world.
The former Eagles
captain thereafter asked players who planned to have trials with foreign
clubs in the next 60 days to leave the camp, in order to allow him
invite replacements for them.
“I have a programme to
build a good team at home that can compete with any national team in the
world but I’m distracted every time players walk up to me to ask for
permission to travel; that has to stop from now on,” Keshi said.
“Those who want to
travel can come and I will pray for them, it’s no quarrel but we are at a
crucial bend now and I can no longer tolerate it.”
Keshi, who had
successful playing time with European clubs, told the players that
Europe was too cold at the moment for any meaningful trials.
The coach said he felt
insulted seeing the country’s national team players embark on trials
with clubs in unknown leagues in the world, adding that most times these
players return without success and still expect to be recalled to the
national team.
He said, “If we train
players here and they make the national team, such players don’t need
trials in Europe to be engaged by top clubs. So why are we in a hurry?”
No comments:
Post a Comment