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The chief coach of the national senior team of Nigeria, Eric Chelle, caused a lot of controversy with his decision to include the midfielder of Niger Tornadoes Pope Daniel in the list of 23 players for the 2026 World Cup qualifying games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively, reports Owngoalnigeria.com.
Chelle made the list public through an announcement of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) after reducing the provisional list of 39 men to 23. He made a bold decision to include Pope that plays in the Nigeria Premier Football League. Its inclusion has generated many debates.
After a failed period in Türkiye with the youth team of the Team of the Second Division Adanaspor, Papa put his eyes at play for team B of the National Senior team of Nigeria popularly known as Chan Eagles. It was key to its successful qualification for the tournament.
The main topic of conversation about its inclusion is that it has not played in five weeks at the NPFL, because it is out of the country in search of green pastures abroad and recently tested with the Team of the Czech Republic Karviná.
He was with his team B that is in the 3rd division and played in the 2-0 victory over a Havířov regional team. A game that was reported by the club on February 22 before his decision not to offer him an agreement.
The reports say that he later tested with another Top Division Slovacko team, but suffered the same destination, and has now taken his search for teams in North Africa by several sources, with whom we talk about his inclusion in the team.
While defending Dad’s inclusion, a back room said he was Chelle’s call after seeing him play while he was reviewing Chan’s classifying game against Ghana, and also in the team of the team in Ikenne during training and a test game.
According to the source, it conforms to the football manager based on possession, something that led to the decision to choose it before Augsburg midfielder, Frank Onyaka, in the final list of 23 players.
However, another source said that Pope is being backed by a very powerful member of the NFF, which was key to Chelle appointment as a coach. We gathered, he told Chelle that he will win many enthusiasts if he includes a NPFL player, and Pope suggested even though he has not played a game in five weeks.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
