Ezeogu Wants Changes In Eguavoen's U-23 Eagles

Ezeogu: Nicknamed ‘The Destroyer’ during his days in the Eagles.

•Ezeogu: Nicknamed ‘The Destroyer’ during his days in the Eagles.

Despite drubbing Equatorial Guinea 5-0 in a London 2012 Olympic Games qualifier at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin, Edo State last weekend, former Super Eagles’ defender, Emeka Ezeogu, took a swipe on Nigeria’s U-23 team, describing their performance as uninspiring.

Emeka Ezeogu

He noted that Nigerians should look beyond the outcome of the clash because the players played below what was expected of them.

Ezeogu, who once assisted coach Samson Siasia, when he was in charge at Heartland Football Club of Owerri, said the team won the first leg of the encounter. But the ex-player is not really convinced that the team have what it takes to hold their own against stiffer oppositions.

He opined that there is urgent need for some changes to be made in the team based on the manner the players approached the game.

“The team might have won the match with a wide margin but I’m not convinced that the players can outplay a better organised team during the qualifying series”.

The former Super Eagle defender, therefore, advised the coach of the team, Austin Eguavoen, who happened to be his teammate while in the national team, to make effective changes in various departments of the team. He emphasized the need for a complete overhaul of the team.

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He said from a technical point of view, the strikers are goal-shy, that they don’t know the essence of being in front of goal and getting the goals.

He noted that if the strikers were good and hungry for goals, they would have scored more than the five goals recorded at the weekend.

Ezeogu said the midfielders played to the gallery, instead of supplying the passes to the strikers they were busy entertaining the fans.

He, however, commended Parma’s Obiora Nwankwo, who did a yeoman’s job in the midfield, tackling and cutting the onslaught of the visitors.

In the backline, Ezeogu showered encomiums on the centre defenders, Kingsley Udoh and Ibok Edet, for giving goalkeeper Dele Ajiboye the desired cover during the Olympic qualifying match. The second leg of the qualifier holds in Guinea in a forthnight.

—Adebobola Alawode

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