Former Nigeria international midfielder Ogenyi Onazi says the senior national team of Nigeria has lost what made special with the way the team has been handled by coaches and the federation.
Onazi who rose to the rank of captain of the Nigerian team with the height of his stay coming when he played a starring role for the team in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations win made this known in an interview with Sportville.
Aired on Channels TV, Onazi bemoaned the constant invitation of players to the senior national team of Nigeria especially under former coach of the team Gernot Rohr, whom he caused of destroying the structure of the team.
“As a nation and as a federation we need to concentrate more on how to stabilise our team. As we speak now our national team does not have a structure. I’m talking about when Gernot Rohr was still in charge of the national team. Because you bring different set of people to the national team today, tomorrow you see another different set of people and see a different set of people next tomorrow”, he said in the interview monitored by OwnGoalNigeria.com.
He went further to say the national team has become like a place where people stroll in and out but that shouldn’t be the case as it’s supposed to be the symbol of the country. His outspoken nature he claimed led to his fall out with ex coach Gernot Rohr.
“The national team doesn’t have value, people come to the national team they just stroll to the national team and stroll out. We don’t have like a symbol of a national team. You know national team is supposed to be some where that when you are called upon it calls for celebration”, he remarked
“Our national team today. I don’t know you people are journalist, I will say it also because I don’t know part of you are doing it or others who are doing it but I will say it because me I am always straight and that is why for sure Gernot Rohr don’t like me because I always tell him the things straight and how it is”.
In his words even journalist are culpable of destabilising the team by putting pressure on the coaches to call different players at almost every time after a moment of brilliance at their club side. Advising that while he is not against the calling of new players it should be done with moderation.
“Somebody will score goals maybe one week or two weeks before the national team, he score two goals, the journalist will begin to write. This guy is in form, bla bla bla before you know they will invite him to the national team and guess what? He will come to the national team he will not play and he will go back again. You’ll never hear of that player again. The next time he is getting to the national team again or one month to the national team another player will score or dribble five players they will invite him.
“They are a whole lot of players who should be in the national team but you have to have a base..I didn’t say you should not invite new players, I didn’t say you should not invite players who want to play for the national team but you need to have a principle. If you want to make a change, maybe one, two changes. This will make people to be hungry to play for the national team”, he concluded.
