Ghana vs Nigeria: Eguavoen’s selection worries sports journalists

 Ghana vs Nigeria: Eguavoen’s selection worries sports journalists

After the uncertainties about venue for the first leg of the Qatar 2022 World Cup playoff between Ghana and Nigeria, the Ghana FA has been working underground, pulling all the strings to ensure the Black Stars come out tops at the end of the double header. So far, the FA has kept the list of Black Stars squad a top secret, insisting that it was not compulsory for the coach to announce the names publicly.

Communications Director of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Henry Asante Twum, insisted that the decision to temporarily hold on to the final list, was a deliberate and well-calculated one.

“It is a technical decision backed by management, and it is a well-thought-out and purely strategic move.

“They felt it’s a way of controlling or minimising the abuse that normally takes place before games, especially on social media. Sometimes, the public abuse gets to the players and affects their mentality,” Mr Asante Twum explained.

While the Ghanaians have been somewhat evasive in announcing the list of their players, Nigeria coach, Austin Eguavoen announced his about two weeks ago. There have been a lot of negative reactions after the announcement. Eguavoen has known no peace since the announcement as many still hold a lot of reservations about some of the invited players. Among the contentious names coach Eguavoen included in his squad are Oghenekaro Etebo, Ogenyi Onazi and Akinyemi Amoo.

Etebo had been on the injury list for the better part of 2021 and had just recovered. He has played for just 17 minutes for his English club, as he is yet to be fully re-integrated into the team after his rehab.

Writing in his weekly column in the New Telegraph Saturday, March 12 Adekunle Salami, the Group Sports Editor questioned Eguavoen’s wisdom in inviting the likes of Ogenyi Onazi of Al-Adalah, Akinkunmi Amoo of Copenhagen and Oghenekaro Etebo of Watford.

Amoo, though was a youth prodigy in his early days, has not been a regular in his Danish club. Reports say the 19-year old has had a few minutes of playing time since the commencement of the season for his club. Salami wrote, “It is normal for people to have different opinions but in the list compiled by Eguavoen there were obvious cases of huge concern over the invitation of three players…

“There was no justification in the position of Eguavoen apart from the fact that he is in charge to take the best decision for the team.”

Another person who spoke with Sports Vanguard was the Group Sports Editor of the Punch Newspapers, Tana Aiyejina. He was as worried as Salami in his assessment of Onazi’s current form. “For a man who last played any meaningful football in 2018, it is obvious that his invitation bears more than meets the ordinary eye.

“When Keshi brought him up in 2013, we all saw him and appreciated his dexterity. We all felt we had found the missing link in the team. He was massive as a defensive midfielder. I saw him as one for the future. When he played for Nigeria at the 2016 World Cup in Brazil, a lot of people felt if he had played against France in the second round, perhaps we would have had a better result.”

After then, Onazi’s career witnessed a dip due to injuries and has struggled through the years. Tana said he saw his invitation to the national team after four years of absence as a huge joke. “Although they said he is on stand-by, for me it is a joke, Onazi does not deserve a place in the national team,” he said, insisting that the national team should not be seen as a rehabilitation centre where players use to relaunch their ebbing careers.

“Eguavoen must know that we are playing an old foe. We should be talking about our best.

I listened to him trying to justify Onazi’s invitation with the remark that Ghana too were contemplating on bringing back Sule Muntari, and I tell you if Ghana decides to field such tired and old legs like Sule Muntari then we are going to thrash them like children.

“Onaxi’s invitation is unacceptable because the national team is not an all comers affair, we are making a huge joke of it. It’s a shame. Onazi is finished, as far as I am concerned.”

On Etebo, Tana had this to say, “Etebo has played just a few minutes for Watford since he recovered. “Like I said earlier, the national team is for players who are fit, it is not a rehabilitation centre. You have a 25-man squad and you are not going to play all of them. I know there are a number of players who should not be on that list; and Etebo is one of them. If one has been out due to injury, then why not give this injury time to heal. We still have the World Cup, if we qualify and the team have many other engagements in future.

Tana also questioned the invitation of youngster Akinkunmi Amoo. “He hasn’t played for the national team before and I doubt if he knows the significance of the match. It’s an encounter too big for him.”

Another journalist who voiced his concern on Eguavoen’s list was Aikhoje Ojeikere, a sports pundit with Super Sport. He was nonplussed with the constitution of the squad which once again portrayed the local league as a failed project.

“If the likes of Akinkunmi Amoo could be invited to the national team, why do our coaches keep ignoring players from the domestic league?” he asked. “When Gernot Rohr was here, he belittled players from the domestic league, as only good for CHAN. That to me was an insult to Nigerian football,” he said.

“I also feel there are names not mentioned that should be looked at. If an invitation to the national team is based on club form, then I wonder why a player like Anthony Nwakaeme who plies his trade in Turkey is not invited. His team in Turkey are doing very well and he is scoring goals, a very influential player in his club. You now wonder why he is continuously ignored by national team selectors.”

Coming back to the list, when you look at the goalkeeping department, it is a bit worrisome. News from Kaizer Chiefs is that they want to offload Akpeyi at the end of the season. Based on statistics, Maduka Okoye is still our best, even though he has his lapses in the Dutch league he remains Nigeria’s best for now. Some Nigerians still point to his howler against Tunisia at the Nations Cup in Cameroon and feel he didn’t do well but then, if it were like that, Manchester United would have since chased De Gea out of England. But they have stuck with him because over time he has been the one that has saved them out of some tight situations. Okoye is 99% going to be between the posts against Ghana, except something happens.

I wonder why Awoniyi was left out when you look at the way he played at AFCON where he played regularly

Awoniyi should be in the main list, not the stand by list. A stand by list is just like a spare tyre. One can travel from here to the village and come back, if nothing happened to any of the tyres, one cannot touch a spare. Unless someone on the main list gets injured he can’t be called in as a replacement. Nobody prays for anybody to get injured.

There is this debate about NPFL players. I share that sentiment. Why invite an all Europe-based squad only for some to end up on the bench? Late Keshi would tell you that rather than bring a player from Europe and leave him on the bench, he would invite a home-based player.

That is why I am of the opinion that even if you are not going to use them, he should bring them to camp and give them a sense of belonging. In life one aspires to greater heights. The same applies to players in the NPFL. Even if he wanted to use them as training materials, after all Westerhof was using them as training material at some point, before he started changing his team gradually. The likes of Taofeek Malik, Akin Akinsheinde, the late Barnabas Imenger were all training even when we had Yekini who was undroppable. But playing with the likes of Yekini gave them some experience and they learned a few tricks from him. One or two of them eventually broke into the team. You can’t just ignore them like that.

Again, if we look at it critically, the domestic league is useless. Of what use is it if I am playing in the league and I can’t play for the national team. Gernot Rohr’s assertion that those in the NPFL can only feature in CHAN is rubbish. It’s like saying your destiny is closed.”

He was soft on Etebo’s invitation. “I want to look at it this way, every team call up all their big players. The coach knows that he is not going to play this player but puts him on the list so that his opponents will know that this guy is in the squad. One thing is that this is a game for big names. Before winning on the pitch, one has to win the psychological war first. I want to believe, Etebo is here for that reason.

On Amoo, Aikhije said, “Amoo and Paul Mokairo play in the same club in Denmark. Mukairo has played more matches than Amoo as at the time that list came out, Mukairo had played three matches while Amoo had played only one, and only as a substitute who made a 3-minute cameo. So I ask, what is the justification for inviting Amoo? This is a game for the big names, not for the likes of Amoo. Amoo is coming to learn, why then are we closing the door to home-based players?