Oliseh new S/Eagles' coach unveils selection criteria for team

Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, has amended his original stance that only Nigerian players in the top division clubs will be invited to the team during his tenure. “We need those who are used to playing at top tempo to serve and play for Nigeria. That is why we took that decision. And of course this applies only to field players but doesn’t really apply to goalkeepers because goalkeepers are made of a different breed,” he said in a new Oliseh Tv video uploaded to YouTube on Monday and which he personally sent out via Twitter. Oliseh’s statement at his unveiling on July 13 to the effect that “Only first division players are the ones that we find eligible to serve our country” generated a lot debate with many critics insisting that the policy could not work as many of the Nigerians abroad had dropped to lesser clubs. “And this doesn’t also apply to players that are already in the national teams. By this I mean players that have excelled in the national U-17, U-20 or U-23 team as they are also eligible to play for the Super Eagles. We will also accept a player who has excelled for the Eagles in his career but who for no fault of his goes down to the second division with his club. We will keep monitoring such a player. If a club refuses to sell a player and he is tied down with them, then we will have to look in at those players and monitor their shape. We want only the best to play for Nigeria and that’s we have to keep to the standard.” The former Eagles captain, like his predecessor Stephen Keshi did several times, explained that he was going to rebuild the national side from the scratch. He added that the first national camp would hold in August as he and his assistants continue the search for the best players across the world. He said, “We have split the search into two phases of home-based and foreign-based players. And for the European beat, we have visited some players and contacted others by phone – those we feel can help the team as we prepare to face Tanzania. “We will assemble by mid August and the training starts. It will end up with the trip to Tanzania.” The coach also made reference to the 2018 World Cup qualifying match billed against Djibouti or Swaziland. He said that the schedule could make the job psychologically easier for the Eagles. He said, “We are delighted to play away first to Djibouti or Swaziland as it will mean playing the last game at home in Nigeria. And so we are happy by that arrangement even though that won’t guarantee us qualification.” Copyright PUNCH.

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