Former national football team player, Tony Emedofu(aka Poropo), has given the thumbs up to the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) for its recent appointment of another ex-international, Finidi George as the coach of the national team, the Super Eagles.
“Finidi George is very qualified to coach the national team(Super Eagles). The decision was right. NFF made the right choice. He deserves it no doubt. Let us go back to the days when Nigerians were in charge of the national team. They were achieving results.
“Instead of appointing foreign coaches every time let’s give the local coaches the opportunity to show their capabilities. The only foreign coach whose tenure we enjoyed was Clemence Westerhof.
“I was in the national camp when he came. I was among the first set of players he handled. In the real sense, he was behaving like a typical Nigerian. That was why he was getting it right. After he left nobody could do as much as he did.
“Finidi George is a Nigerian. He is a coach that’s doing well in the Nigerian Premier League with a local team, Enyimba. In his active days as a player he saw it all playing outside the shores of Nigeria, winning laurels and almost all the cups on parade. Teams he played for in his active days include Ajax.
“He is in a better position to tutor home based players on how to upgrade their game in line with what is obtainable globally.
“In other countries the number of foreign based players that are invited to join the national team is few in comparison to those that are based in the local league. Most of our foreign based players don’t know how it feels to defend our national pride. When they’re playing a match they dont care if they lose a match.
“When the home based players lose a match they know what will be the reaction of the fans as the players dare not walk freely on the streets else they be attacked by angry fans.”
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