‘Decision to make Osimhen captain rests with Peseiro’
The Super Eagles will begin their final preparations for the forthcoming Cote d’Ivoire 2024 Africa Cup of Nations on January 2 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has said.
The African Cup of Nations will hold from January 13 to February11, 2024. According to the NFF, the Super Eagles, who are scheduled to feature in a three-nation championship against Stallions of Burkina Faso and Leopards of Congo DR in Abu Dhabi, are expected to start arriving in the UAE from January 1, 2024.
NFF Media Director, Ademola Olajire, told The Guardian, yesterday, that the federation is fine-tuning the team’s training programme, adding, however, that Coach Jose Peseiro would release the list of invited players in due course.
The Super Eagles are in Group A of the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations alongside hosts, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau. Meanwhile, former Super Eagles coach, Christian Chukwu, has questioned the limited time the team has to train for the Nations Cup, saying that two weeks may not be enough for the squad to blend ahead of the competition.
Chukwu said that the Eagles, as currently composed, is not a team that can meet Nigerians’ aspirations, wondering how Peseiro can raise a good enough team with just two weeks training in Abu Dhabi.He said: “Peseiro has been based abroad and invites mostly foreign-born Nigerian players for different engagements to the national team.
“Since his appointment as Nigeria’s coach, he has never lived in the country, sacrificing time to go around to look at players in the domestic league.
“There are talents in the Nigerian league, who can do well in the national team. We have seen the results of the World Cup qualifiers and this situation is unfortunate.We don’t have a team yet for the Africa Cup of Nations and it is really not good for the country,” he said.
On Peseiro’s plan to make Victor Osimhen Super Eagles captain as reported recently by Italian media outlet, Gazzetta dello Sport, Chukwu said the coach has the right to choose anybody he likes as his captain.
The report quotes Peseiro as describing Osimhen as “a hard worker, a leader without armband, a tireless person. I am sure that he will become the next captain of Nigeria.”
Chukwu said that Peseiro must have seen something outstanding in Osimhen to nurse the ambition of giving him the captain’s armband.
“Peseiro is close to all the players and knows what each and everyone of them can do in different situations. So, it is up to him to decide what to do with the players,” he said.
