Super Eagles Coach Sunday Oliseh has made a sensational declaration that fleet-footed forward Ahmed Musa is his preferred choice for the national team captain’s armband. Musa played the captain’s role in the Super Eagles last two matches against Tanzania and Niger and while many thought it was only in a stand-in capacity, Oliseh revealed otherwise Tuesday, saying he was already looking into the future. There was a major fall-out between Oliseh and hitherto skipper Vincent Enyeama on Tuesday night in Belgium, a development that may have further contributed to the Eagles coach making a firm declaration on the captaincy of the Eagles.
Feelers from the Super Eagles camp suggests that Coach Sunday Oliseh clashed with Captain Vincent Enyeama yesterday. Enyeama joined his national teammates in Belgium ahead of the two friendly games against Congo and Cameroon on Thursday and Sunday respectively but Oliseh was angry over the keeper’s late arrival to camp. The Lille keeper arrived camp after Monday’s deadline, having been reportedly permitted to report late following Saturday’s burial of his mother in Akwa Ibom. But an angry Oliseh ordered Enyeama, out despite pleas from the keeper, who rose to apologise for coming late and wanted to give his reasons. Oliseh reportedly told Enyeama to shut up but the Eagles captain didn’t comply, which made the coach call on security operatives to get the keeper out of Hotel Verviers, the camp site of the Eagles. Oliseh then named CSKA Moscow forward, Ahmed Musa, the Eagles captain for the friendly matches. But officials of the NFF waded into the matter and persuaded Enyeama to remain in camp. “It’s true that there was a little misunderstanding in the camp of @NGSuperEagles, but the matter has been resolved. Enyeama remains in camp,” the NFF said on Twitter.
We don’t know who is right or wrong but we do know that Oliseh should control his temperament that once saw him confront a former sports minister when he was Super Eagles captain.
South Sudan will play in their first World Cup qualifier when they face Mauritania on Wednesday, the first leg of their preliminary round tie. Having joined international football only in 2012, a year after the country became independent from Sudan, the team is facing its biggest challenge. They go into the tie boosted by achieving their first competitive win on 5 September – beating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. “We are ready, totally ready. We know what we have to do and we can spring a surprise,” South Sudan captain Richard Justin Lado told Fifa’s website. “Our coach Sung-Jea Lee has created a style of play that’s based on defensive discipline and counter-attacking football, and I think we can cause some damage. We need to win, for many reasons, and we will win.” However, Mauritania are ranked 55 places higher than their opponents and will be hoping to stamp their authority on the game and finish the job when they host the return leg on Tuesday 13 October.
