Former Barcelona of Spain defender, Samuel Gbenga Okunowo has opined that Super Eagles’ coach, Eric Sekou Chelle and his players need the 2026 World Cup ticket in order to enhance their respective careers, Sports247 reports.
Okunowo, who first made his mark as skipper of Nigeria’s junior national team, Flying Eagles, before starring for the senior squad at the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations, argued that qualifying for the Mundial will boost Chelle’s CV and help his players attract agents who would help them get better clubs.
The former right-full-back, who was fondly called ‘Eric’ while growing up in Ibadan, also noted that, as Friday’s clash away to Rwanda looms large, Chelle will be making plans to win his first match by all means possible.
Gbenga Okunowo, whose last overseas club was Walthamstow Forest FC in England’s regional league, said, “One thing is that we have a new coach, and he will have to use his own mentality. He obviously wants to win his first match. So, he has to do everything to please all Nigerians and his own fans.”
Aside from making Nigerians happy and reviving the country’s fading football image, Okunowo stated further that victory on Friday would set Chelle and the players on an upward route that should benefit them all in many years to come.
“The coach has to boost his name. So, he’s going for that now, and he will try and get it anyhow. He just wants to win and start well.
“For me, my own view is that we just have to win and get our image back. Let’s revive our name and see our players start getting big clubs again in the whole world. That’s very important for them.
“They need high ratings in clubsides all over the world, and scouts will be looking for them. So, they are doing this for themselves, not for me or their fans. It’s good for their names if they win. If they make a good name now, they will continue to eat from it in future,” Okunowo submitted.
Sports247 recalls that Okunowo, who also played for Nigeria’s under-23 team at the Sydney 2000 Olympics in Australia, earlier featured for Kwara United of Ilorin, Exide Sparkers and Shooting Stars of Ibadan as well as Benfica of Portugal, Ionikos of Greece, Dinamo Bucharest of Romania, FK Tirana of Albania and Metarlugh Donetsk of Ukraine, then ended his career back in Nigeria with Sunshine Stars of Akure in 2013.
