Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Emmanuel Babayaro has said current goalkeeper trainer, Alloy Agu, and the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick are to be blamed for the country’s failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
The Super Eagles lost out on away goal rule, after drawing 1-1 at home with Ghana on Tuesday.
Babayaro, who won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics, said, “For me personally, I will lay the blame on goalkeeper trainer, Alloy Agu. He has been the goalkeeper trainer for many years and has failed to bring any improvement on any of the goalkeepers. And also, he has not brought up a new goalkeeper into the fold. So, why is he a goalkeeper trainer?”
He added, “Football has a lot to do with psychology. Uzoho after conceding that goal was shaking because it was a flop for him to allow that ball to go into the net. It takes a lot of character for the goalkeeper to come back better after such a goal.”
The former Super Eagles goaltender also laid blame on the doorsteps of Amaju Pinnick.
“There is no teamwork among Super Eagles and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) because in a situation where only the President is in charge of everything. The President of the Federation is the Chief Scout of Super Eagles. He has been the one traveling to Europe to convince players who were not born here and don’t know much about Nigerian football to come and play for us.
“How can you bring strangers together and expect them to do the work of brothers? They cannot play with that urgency because they don’t know the history and the rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana and what football means to the average Nigerian,” he concluded.
