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 made these remarks during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos, expressing his concern over the Super Eagles’ lackluster performance in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
NAN reported that the Super Eagles had a 1-1 draw in Uyo against Lesotho, a team that has never qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Shortly after, they were again held to a 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe in Rwanda, accumulating only two points from their initial two games.
The Portuguese coach has faced substantial criticism for steering 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 seat 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.
According to reports, participating countries can name a maximum 27 players in their squad for the 2023 AFCON finals as against the usual 23. The final roaster is expected to be submitted by Jan. 3, 2024.
Ekpo, a member of the 1992 African Cup of Nation squad, told NAN that the victory of 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. 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.