Super Eagles don’t need Grade A friendlies now, says Obuh

While many of his compatriots are not happy with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for choosing Mali and Luxembourg, instead of more illustrious teams, as opponents for the Super Eagles during next month’s FIFA Window, former Flying Eagles manager, John Obuh, believes the country can excel in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers if the NFF organised friendly matches for the team with lesser football nations.

Obuh’s argument is that exposing the team to Grade A friendlies against big teams now will affect the Super Eagles’ rebuilding process.

He posits that the only sure way of ensuring that Nigeria qualified for Russia 2018 is by planning a programme that would help the coaches get the best out of the country’s old reliables and the emerging talents.

Drawing from the Eagles’ performance in the 2016 African Nations Cup qualifiers, the former U-17 coach urged the NFF to ensure that the Eagles commenced early preparation for the qualifiers, just as he charged the coaches to go for only the best players available for selection, adding that sentiments and over dependence on foreign-based players have been behind the team’s poor performance in recent times.

Obuh also urged the NFF to take care of the necessary logistics to make the coaches’ job easier.

“What the Super Eagles coaches should focus on is getting the best players to prepare for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. But the NFF needs to give the team the best preparations ahead of the qualifiers. Losing the the World Cup ticket after failing to qualify for the Nations Cup will not be good for Nigeria’s football development,” he said.