Ex-international, Friday Ekpo, says sacking Super Eagles Head Coach, José Peseiro, is not as crucial as adding fresh home-based and foreign professionals to key departments of the team.
Ekpo said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos, against the backdrop of the Super Eagles’ unimpressive performance in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
The Super Eagles drew 1-1 in Uyo on matchday one against Lesotho, a team that has never qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations.
A few days later, the Super Eagles were held to another 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe in Rwanda to bag only two points from their first two games.
The Portuguese has been under immense criticism after guiding the three-time African champions to two disappointing results in November.
Ekpo, the former Super Eagles midfielder, appealed to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) not to heed the call by football enthusiasts to sack the coach.
“I’m not calling for Jose’s head like most people are; sacking him will be counterproductive at this point in time. These results can be reversed in subsequent matches.
“My only concern is that we shouldn’t have only foreign-based players in the team because selecting his team for matches will be tough.
“No foreign-based player would like to leave their clubs just for them to come and sit on the bench; we’ve done it in the past and it worked; we can do that again,” he said.
Peseiro is set to submit a 55-man provisional list ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations on Dec. 14.
NAN reports that participating countries can name a maximum of 27 players in their squad for the 2023 AFCON finals, as opposed to the usual 23. The final roaster is expected to be submitted by January 3, 2024.
Ekpo, a member of the 1992 African Cup of Nations squad, told NAN that the victory of the Super Eagles at the 2013 AFCON was sealed by a home-based player at the time, Sunday Mba.
“Sunday, Mba was a Warrior Wolves of Asaba player. The late Stephen Keshi did that, and the result was glaring. Moreover, this is the only way we can truly develop our domestic league.
“We all want results, but it’s important we pay attention to history and learn from it,” he said.
