A former youth international and ex-crafty winger, Jide Oguntuase has opined that if Nigeria wants to qualify for the next Olympic Games’ men’s football competition, total trust must be placed in home-based players.
Speaking against the backdrop of the country’s inability to qualify for men’s football in the last two Olympiads, the 1995 All Africa Games bronze medalist reasoned that only players from the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) can break the jinx.
While the female squad, Super Falcons, are back this year in Paris, France, after 20 years of absence, the men, Olympic Eagles (aka Dream Team), last qualified in 2016.
In response to this development, Oguntuase insists more attention has to be paid to the NPFL for a resurgence of Nigeria’s past glory at this level of football.
He slammed the nation’s over-dependence on foreign-based players and stressed that an inward looking approach is needed in order to replicate the country’s feats of gold (1996), silver (2008) and bronze (2016).
“The Olympics football event is again starting without Nigeria in the men’s competition. This is very sad,” Oguntuase lamented.
“I just want us to go back to the grassroots. Let’s use most of our home-based players. The majority of our national teams should get involved with our home-based players.
“That’s where we have players that are hungry. We should not keep using players that are there already, as they are no longer hungry for glory.
“That was what we had during our days. We won it in 1996 because most of those players were hungry for glory.
“We played for this country without holding any negative attitude,” Oguntuase recalled.
He then eulogised efforts that have been put in place of recent by the current executive committee of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and expressed hope for better results in days to come.
“Although, at present, things are not okay with our players and the way things are going on, I still appreciate the efforts of the present NFF led by Shehu Gusau.
“He is trying with what he is doing, but you can’t get there in one day. It’s a gradual process.
“See the case of NPFL prize money, for instance. This season, it was N150m, and it will be N200m next season.
“I think there is improvement, and we have to make it work. That’s why I want all our national team players to be picked from the NPFL.
“Let’s pick only few from abroad, maybe just six, while the others come from the NPFL; and I am very sure we are going to qualify for the Olympics,” Oguntuase submitted.
