The Technical Director of the Nigeria Soccer Federation (NFF), Austin Eguavoen, and former Tremendous Eagles striker Victor Ikpeba have rejected claims that head coach Eric Chelle was not totally answerable for choosing the squad for Nigeria’s upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers towards Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
Chelle, who was appointed as the brand new Tremendous Eagles coach in January, introduced his 23-man squad for the matches on Tuesday. A few of his picks, in addition to the gamers omitted, triggered debates amongst followers and pundits.
Nevertheless, Eguavoen clarified that Chelle had full management over the squad choice and there was no interference from the NFF’s technical committee. Eguavoen defined that the nationwide crew coach has the ultimate say on who’s picked for the crew.
“I would like Nigerians to know one thing clearly,” Eguavoen mentioned. “I’ve been technical director for a number of years, and I’ve attended FIFA workshops the place it was made clear that the senior nationwide crew coach has the ultimate say on squad choice. We are able to focus on, however we can’t intrude. If he says no, it’s no. That’s why a coach might be fired anytime. Eric Chelle took his time to arrange this listing and has the ultimate say.”
Ikpeba, who’s a part of the NFF’s technical committee, supported Eguavoen’s assertion. He defined that Chelle had been watching a big pool of 45 to 50 Nigerian gamers overseas earlier than making his remaining resolution.
“This younger man (Chelle) has been carefully monitoring about 45 to 50 gamers, so it’s his alternative,” Ikpeba mentioned. “He is aware of who his 23, 24, or 25 gamers are. There was no interference.”
Regardless of these reassurances, a few of Chelle’s picks have triggered controversy
Chelle’s alternative of goalkeepers has additionally raised questions. Remo Stars’ Kayode Bankole was picked forward of Adebayo Adeleye, who performs often for Paralimni in Cyprus. Bankole will not be even the first-choice goalkeeper at his membership, which has confused followers.
One other shock omission is Brentford midfielder Frank Onyeka, who has been constant at Augsburg within the Bundesliga. As a substitute, Chelle selected Alhassan Yusuf from New England Revolution, despite the fact that the MLS season solely began three weeks in the past.
With simply three factors from their first 4 matches, Nigeria’s World Cup hopes are in danger. They at present sit fifth of their qualifying group, 4 factors behind leaders Rwanda. Their subsequent two matches, towards Rwanda on March 21 in Kigali and Zimbabwe on March 25 in Uyo, are essential. In the event that they don’t win each video games, their probabilities of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US, Mexico, and Canada could possibly be in severe hazard.
