Oliseh Justifies Ighalo’s Omission
Super Eagles Head Coach, Sunday Oliseh, has insisted he cannot call up all the country’s top stars at once and so Watford striker, Odion Ighalo, will have to wait for his turn to be invited to the Super Eagles.
Ighalo was a major omission from an 18-man squad for a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Dar es Salaam next month released by Oliseh on Monday evening. Also missing is Chelsea duo of Victor Moses and John Mikel Obi.
Oliseh would take charge of his first Nigeria game against Tanzania on September 5 as he recalled Haruna Lukman, Joel Obi and Emmanuel Emenike as well as other regulars from the Stephen Keshi era.
In June, Ighalo scored his first Eagles goal in a 2-0 home win over Chad in an AFCON qualifier and he got off to a flying start in the English Premier League with a goal on the opening day of the season.
“We can only play 11 players at once. We have two other strikers we want to try out,”
Oliseh said in response to questions over Ighalo’s exclusion.
Russia-based Sylvester Igboun and Esperance striker Emem Eduok have been considered ahead of the former Flying Eagles skipper.
Ighalo told AfricanFootball.com he was disappointed not be called up, but hopes to continue working hard at his English club.
Oliseh also restated his resolve to adopt“a winning style of play”.
“We are starting from the scratch, but with time I hope for a winning style of play,” he promised.
Meanwhile, a former Green Eagles captain and coach, Christian Chukwu has pleaded for support for Oliseh and his team as they prepare to play against the Taifa Stars of Tanzania .
“I sincerely believe that Oliseh might have studied Tanzania’s video clips which informed the list of players he sent to the Nigeria Football Federation’s Technical Department before it was finally made public (on Monday evening). Let’s see what he makes out of the players he invited,” Chukwu told Goal.com
As regards the absence of some star players, the former Eagles handler said that there is no way a coach can satisfy all fans and that the most important thing is victory on the road.
“Let me tell you, there is no list any coach can release that people won’t complain. Even if
Goal.com releases a team list, in as much as it’s for the Super Eagles, people will certainly complain.
“But the most important thing is for Oliseh to go ahead with the players he has invited and go to Tanzania and beat them on their soil in Dar es Salam.
“He has just come out with the list so let’s give him a chance and see what stuff he is made of technically.
“Maybe these players he invited will be more committed to the work at hand. So let’s see what he does with them first,” Chukwu concluded.