The Nigeria Football Federation
(NFF) has fired queries to coach Stephen Keshi and captain Vincent Enyeama over
issues surrounding Super Eagles AFCON qualifier against Chad. Keshi has been
asked by his employers to explain why non-league striker Gabriel Okechukwu made
the Eagles team, while Enyeama has to explain his comments regarding the safety
of match venue Kaduna.
Striker Okechukwu features for non-league Water
FC of Abuja and he failed to make the final cut for the U20 World Cup in New
Zealand after he was named on a 35-man provisional squad.
The unknown striker was so honoured by Keshi that
he was even handed the revered jersey No.10 once made famous by football icons
in the likes of Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha, Argentine legends Diego Maradona and
Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho of Brazil, Italy legend, Roberto Baggio, the great
Zinedine Zidane of France, Glenn Hoddle of England, among others.
Enyeama, on the other hand, has been queried over
his comments that Kaduna was unsafe for the AFCON qualifier against Chad. The
NFF were forced to issue an official statement after Enyeama’s comments on the
Kaduna venue. NFF president Amaju Pinnick was quoted in the statement as
saying:
“Kaduna State has always been a
perfect ground for all National Teams, and a city in love with football. We are
excited anytime we bring a match of the National Team to Kaduna, because we are
always sure of massive support for our team.”This must have been a damper on the day when he became the most capped Nigerian star at full international level with 101 appearances, one more than what Joseph Yobo achieved at last year’s World Cup.
Source- Vanguard
