AFCON 2021:Ex-Eagles star hands national team secret to Enyimba captain
Ex-international, Ifeanyi Udeze, has advised Super Eagles new invitee, Ifeanyi Anaemena,
to strive and break into the first team of Gernot Rohr before making a case for
other NPFL players to come into the national team.
The Enyimba International skipper had called on Eagles strategist to extend invitation to other home-based players ahead of subsequent international matches.
The Enyimba centre half says more call ups for domestic players will have a beneficial
effect on the league.
Anaemena was handed a maiden call up to the Super Eagles squad for the 2021 Africa Cup
of Nations qualifiers against the Benin Republic and Lesotho as a late replacement for
Russia based Bryan Idowu who was prevented from travelling to Nigeria by Visa issues.
He joins Heartland goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa as the only other player from the Nigeria
Professional Football League in the squad.
But Udeze said Anaemena should fight for himself first and make sure his position in the team is secured before agitating for the invitation of other players.
“What Anaemena is saying is good but he needs to enter the team properly. Invitation into the team without playing has no meaning. He needs to secure a permanent place first in the team before making case for others to come in. He is in the team to pave way for others. His performance will chamge Rohr’s thinking about the home-based players. The German never nelieves in the ability of local players,” he said.
German manager Rohr’s reservation about fielding players from the domestic league is
well known with Ezenwa the only player based in Nigeria who consistently makes the
squad.
Read Also:Rohr in war-of-words with Pinnick over Super Eagles selection
Rohr’s failure to blood in domestic players into the Super Eagles has set him at
loggerheads with his employers the Nigeria Football Federation who have reportedly
hinged a renewal of the German’s contract which runs out in June of next year on his
agreeing to “domesticate” his activities and scout more players from the NPFL for the
national team.