Former Nigeria international, Bright Omokaro has said the current Super Eagles players lack seriousness compared to past squads.
Speaking on Brila FM’s “No Holds Barred” former Eagles left-back, Ifeanyi Udeze, the AFCON 1988 silver medal winner said there was a very big cooperation and cohesion in past Super Eagles teams.
“When you are invited, you have to show that you can do it. We always had time to train together before the match proper; there was commitment back then.
“If you are stubborn and you don’t know the job, they drop you. Your stubbornness has to be in compliance with what you can offer because the team wanted to win. If you are not part of the system and your impact is not there, then your stubbornness is absolutely nothing.
“There is no seriousness in this present team. You can singlehandedly pick out the ones that want to win. In those days, everybody wanted to win; you would see that seriousness in the team. But now, they even invite players you’ve never heard of to the national team. It is pathetic.”
However, Omokaro believes the Eagles still have a chance to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup provided they put in the necessary work and seriousness.
“It’s a slim chance (qualifying for the 2026 World Cup), but football is unpredictable,” he added. “Victory requires a lot of sacrifice. If you don’t work hard, it will not work out well.
“It depends on those who are invited to play and their mindset. If they are determined to give their all, there is no match they cannot win.”
The Eagles are in fifth place and on three points after four games in the World Cup qualifiers.
In March 2025 when the World Cup qualifiers resume, the Eagles will travel to Kigali to face Rwanda on matchday 5 and then host Zimbabwe in Uyo on matchday 6.
14 Comments
Yes, I agree with Mr Omokaro- the current Super Eagles squad are not showing any seriousness, determination and commitment required to win matches at international level. They feel too big and disrespectful of the Nigerian Jersey hence the lack of commitment. If they get really serious they should be able to clinch the WC ticket, even with the precarious state they are now in the group- beating South Africa, Rwanda, Benin, Zimbabwe and Lesotho home and away.
Current NFF, Ex Internationals and so called Stakeholders in Super Eagles lack sense
Has anybody thought about this. NFF is so quick to cry lack of funds for Good Coach yet we are the only national team with an unnecessary technical committee. That i an sure is expected to be on some sort of payroll should this Technical committee that seems to be the bane of super eagles not have been disbanded the minute the crys for lack of funds for a proper coach started?. I mean what is more important a new top class coach or a distraction of a technical committee whose sole purpose seems to be to run Super Eagles to the ground and brink of despair one bad decision at a time
What makes this even more frustrating is that Nigeria’s form picked up so too our fortunes albeit briefly when they disbanded the last technical committee shortly before Rohrs appointment. Now this technical committee is proving destructive and unwarranted and we are still keeping them on a payroll at the expense of getting a top coach that can actually improve our fortune’s. Please can someone make this make sense
Even the name technical committee is a scam it should be super eagles committee because that fraud committee that is not needed seems to only be there to make Suggestions for Super Eagles i don’t hear about them commenting on any other age group or Super Falcons matters.
This committee should be disband and thier salaries put together to pay a good coach monthly this is the first move that should have been done in a serious country that is but, Alas we are in Nigeria. Where things are not straight and wher there is always some mumu fans creating clap back when sincerely worried fans who knows what is going on are challenging the status quo of NFF..
Well said omokaro, when it’s time to hold the players accountable for their mediocre display, that’s when some confused fans will come out and be defending what’s not, channeling the blame elsewhere.
I think there are many things to do by NFF board and new foreign coaching crew in order to return Super Eagles to play with seriousness and committment and discipline; fristly, NFF board must hire vetern foreign coach who has pedigree and African football experience and has mentality on howto manage the players and genusity to make many plans around the match, so NFF must enact code of conduct so that they can manage SE players , put drastic rules on players to commit discipline and committment and enthusiasm soul through the matches; coaching crew must put Nigerian style of play with assistance of local coaches in training crew , coaching crew must put total football as pattern of play that means all players must defend and attack with drastic positional defensive style in order to intercept opposer couter-attack , also coaching crew must solve defensive set-pieces committed by SE center backs; if NFF and coaching crew execute these arrays, SE will perform excellently on any match and they can win all their next matches…
This comment of yours is part of the problem currently plaguing our national team. There was a time the Brazilian team was known for samba football do they still samba in their football? What of Spain, tiki-taka was their way then do they still do it today? No! There is no such thing as our style of play, this is where the technical committee have continue to miss it when they insist that all coaches of the national team must maintain “our” style of play. This so called style of play was introduced to us by a coach does not mean that every coach must adapt to it. Not all players or match situation is the same. Peseiro looked at his players and after series of matches and the first match at the AFCON change his tactics to a more defensive approach which eventually worked for him. Employ a good coach and he will give you a style of play according to the players available to him that is the best practice everywhere in the world. You people should continue with our style of play mentality and see your football retrogressing like the epileptic national greed abi na national grid they call am!
The players play to instructions in their clubs because they may be benched but in 9ja they play a completely different brand of football.
But we all saw Yamal, what he plays in Barca same with La Roja. No double standard. Same with Mbappe except tjat the armband affected his game. Siasia used to confront them to play the same way they play for their clubs for Nigeria. Only Osimhen and Lookman play the same way for club and country.
Some people are very funny. The same players that just won silver out of sheer grit in the last Nations Cup are not committed. They were not even given a chance before the tournament.
Which of these old players is coming out to talk about the way NFF keep owing bonuses? Which of these old players are talking about the fact that Finidi’s appointment was a scam, judging from the two friendlies he handled? How on earth will a serious minded FA give a team like Super Eagles to Finidi? What exactly are they smoking? These old players are a bunch of hypocrites.
We can even have the best players in the world but if we keep demoralizing them by owing them backlog of bonuses while those in glass house are earning their full salaries regardless of them being perennial failures, no miracles will happen. The team will continue to fail if the fundamental issues are not addressed. Monkey dey work baboon dey chop. These old players are becoming obstacles to the progress of our football because they are selective in their way of speaking the truth. Most of them are greedy psychophants with no integrity. They cannot confront NFF because they are hoping someday they could have a slice of the cake too.
It is extremely wrong to single out the players for blame without first addressing the root of the problem. NFF and the clueless minister for sports are the root of the problem we have presently. Any coward who cannot confront NFF should also keep quiet when it comes to apportioning blame to the players.
God bless you for this comment, I was hoping somebody with sense will reason in this direction and I am glad you did. Up till now the Super eagles does not have a coach does that not tell us where the problem is coming from. We should even be lucky that some special players still honour invitation to play for the national team. Just the way serious coaches are avoiding to coach the super eagles don’t be surprised when some players will join in avoiding the national team like a plague as long as we still have olodo and directionless journey men managing our football….. Gush no coach for a national team for more than a month, terrible indeed!
Please go get busy, and which player as come out to say they are being owed. Maybe you were asleep when the president cleared off all outstanding bills. They had a choice to protest and not play if that’s the issue. They took it upon themselves to go ahead to play if money was the issue, so clearly they sabotaging the country because they were being owed. Keep judging finidi because of 2 friendlies. Would he be the first coach to lose friendly games. All those who whined and cried they weren’t used, what did they do at the qualifiers
Stupid post! Foolish Statement!!
At what point will you all start holding the NFF and incompetent Football administrators accountable for their actions (Corruption, Lack of proper structure, Lack of proper planning and organization…….the list goes on)?
We are less than 2 months to a crucial qualifier match in September, yet no coach has been hired. Yet you are talking about unserious players, and ignoring the unserious football administrators.
How do you expect the players to take the country seriously when the football administrators are filled with jokers and clowns? Playing politics with our football.
Where did Otto Gloria, Clemence Westerhof, Jo Bonfere and Bora Milotovic gain their African experience before comingto Nigeria?
The “african experience” they always refer to is ‘delayed/unpaid bonuses and salaries nad haphazard administrative arrangements’…..LMAOoo. Any coach who has experienced any or both before already has “African Experience”
It is code for egunje experience.