Ex-Super Eagles right winger, Finidi George, believes that before Nigeria can return to its former football glory, players must see themselves as a team and not individual stars.
Speaking to newsmen, the player recalled his years of action for the Nigeria senior men’s football team, noting that the bond the players shared was the reason the Super Eagles of that time were revered across the continent and the world in general.
Finidi, who was in action for 15 years for Nigeria, said players in his day played for the passion, but in today’s football, only a few players truly understand the fervor that football demands.
He blamed the ruling body of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for taking its eyes off the true goal, which is to make Nigeria the world’s football super power, and settling for half measures that have so far worked to our detriment.
“…It was not all about money. You could see how we performed but times have changed now, football is run differently.
“For this, I will blame the NFF for not really maintaining the standard we left. From where we left, today we should have been talking about Nigeria being on top, but that is not the case today.
“We are still struggling, all we have is a bunch of good players here and there, but we don’t have a team. It is about putting up a good team and we are yet to see that.”
— Finidi George
The 2019 African Cup of Nations will kick off in a few weeks and the ex-Super Eagles man is not confident that Nigeria can pull through the preliminary stages of the tournament.
He, however, hopes that the current stock of Eagles can rally back into the fold and put their passion to win as a team over their drive to make a name for themselves.
Source: Vanguard NGR
Featured image source: NigerianEye