Former Super Eagles goalkeeper and coach of FC Prishtina of Kosovo, Ndubuisi Egbo has express concern about the small number of star players in the current national team set up.
Ahead of the 2023 African Cup of Nations in Cote d’ Ivoire, Egbo speaking in an interview with Tribalfootball.com said lack of quality players in the Super Eagles is affecting team performance and the team may likely struggle to reach the final of the AFCON.
“In contrast to the past now you can mention only a few Nigerian players who play in Europe like Victor Osimhen or Victor Boniface. The others simply do not play in strong teams,” said Egbo who played two AFCON tournament in 2000 and 2002
“During my time we had players playing for teams like Arsenal, PSG, Chelsea, etc. This also will impact on the performances of our national team. We have only two players like Osimhen and Boniface who are playing regularly and doing a great job with Napoli and Bayern Leverkusen.”
Speaking on the problematic goalkeeping position of the Super Eagles, Egbo who was number two keeper during his time with the national team said Jose Peseiro needs to select from talents available and stick to one goalkeeper.
“There are many good young goalkeepers and that’s the difficulty facing coaches to pin point one goalkeeper or the other. We have seen the in the past year or two they have used in the national team 3-4 goalkeepers in different matches and in my opinion its not a good thing.
“For me the goalkeeping department is not like the other departments where you can change players frequently. I think an opportunity should be given to one goalkeeper so he can gain experience playing for the national team. Because playing for the national team is different to playing for a club team. When you play for the national team you have on your shoulders the eyes of the entire population.”
Egbo won 12 caps in his national duty career was the first Nigerian coach to win a European league title with FC Tirana of Albania. He was also the first Nigeria to coach a club in the UEFA Champions League.
