Former Super Eagles’ left winger, Friday Elaho has cited this year’s 1X Bet Cup as a good example for football development ventures in Nigeria and tasked administrators of the game to wake up.
‘Elastic’ Elaho reasoned as much while baring his mind on issues affecting the current state of the round leather game in the country, even as he charged officials of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to be up and doing.
He added in a no-holds-barred interview with sports247.ng that the female national team, Super Falcons, need luck to scale through their group at the 2024 Olympic Games in France, and stressed that other corporate bodies should follow the example of 1XBet Limited.
“Last year, they did the same, and it was very colourful,” Elaho recalled.
“It seems, though, that this year is even more colourful than what they previously did.
“It’s a good event, and other people have to follow the example of 1XBet. They are really doing well, and I am happy to be part of this event.”
The former fast-paced and crafty winger, however, expressed dismay that Nigeria’s male team is not at the ongoing Oympics, while the ladies looked sluggish in their 1-0 loss to Brazil on Thursday, thereby raising doubt about their chances against Japan and Spain.
Elaho added: “At the national level, when we are talking about Nigeria, I always laugh. However, it’s very sad that our men’s team are not at the Olympics today.
“Though the women are there, let’s see what they can do. I just wish them best of luck.
“There’s a lot to do. We have to go back to the drawing board. Like what 1XBet is doing, we have to go back to the grassroots and look for very good players that will represent this country.”
He concluded by buttressing the need for more talent hunt competitions that will boost the discovery of new players to replace ageing current stars.
“Some of them that are there are good, but we still have to look for more. We have to look for more good ones that will replace these ones that are currently there.
“So, we always have to look for replacements. That’s what we are lacking. In fact, the NFF have a lot of work to do; in order to get Nigeria back on top,” Elaho stressed.
