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Former Super Eagles Defender Ifeanyi Udeze has suggested that the Nigerian national team needs new players to improve competition for shirts in the team.
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The former left-back for Greece’s PAOK Salonika and England’s West Bromwich Albion, who was part of the Nigeria squad that took part in the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, reasoned that a new lease of life would revive the Eagles’ recent decline.
He lamented that the team is currently in doubt of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and attributed its weakened situation to the indifferent attitude of many players who currently see themselves as “sacred cows” in the national team.
While he also chided the current crop of players for lacking contrite emotions after posting poor results on the pitch, Udeze added that drastic measures, such as leaving regular players out of some invitations, are needed to get the team back on track.
Ifeanyi Udeze further reasoned: “I think it is time for other players to be given opportunities in the national team.
“We keep bringing in the same players, with the same sloppy mentality, and they are not giving their best. We need to give other people the opportunity to do something different.”
“We will invite new players who are willing to come and play. We will also give them the opportunity. Since things are not going as we had planned, let’s open the national team.”
The former international, who grew up in the Ajegunle area of Lagos and cut his teeth in football with Julius Berger FC, from where he was invited to the Golden Eaglets in 1997, also explained some of the advantages that inviting new players would bring.
“Let other players come in, so everyone will be fighting for the shirts. If a regular player is not invited to a match and wins it with new people, that will make the others feel comfortable.
“Anyone who hasn’t been invited will feel bad and adapt. That player will be determined to get his invitation back and do better next time.
“These are some of the areas we need to look at and make changes. We all have work to do; all men need to wake up,” Udeze said.
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