Former Nigerian international Bright Omokaro has stated that Nigeria not securing a spot in the 2022 World Cup which will be held in Qatar is very painful.
The Black Stars of Ghana drew 0-0 with Nigeria in the first leg of the World Cup playoffs and booked a ticket to Qatar after drawing 1-1 in the second leg.
Speaking to Ojieva Ehiosun the retired footballer was also not happy with the current state of Nigeria football.
Till now football fans in Nigeria are still in shock over the failure of the Super Eagles to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Who do we blame for it, NFF, the technical crew, players or the government?
"For me, it is very painful that Nigeria won’t have the national flag hoisted in Qatar. Nigeria as you know is a big football nation but it has happened there is nothing we can do about it. Back to your question, I don’t want to put the blame on any department of the team, I would say it is for everybody. We have a football house that determines what happens with football, so whatever it is, they should be able to take responsibility for things and work hard to make sure things go the right way. From the outset, a lot of things had been crippled with the way we had refused to build formidable teams for this country in all categories,"
"I played in my primary and secondary school days.’ I played academicals, from the first junior national team to the senior national team. I grew through the ranks, you can see the cadre, is not easy, football is a magnet. So if you have people there who do not have the rudiments, things would always go the wrong way. For us to get it right, we need to go back to base, it doesn’t take time. Those in the Glass House must do the right thing. A medical doctor cannot do the job of a lawyer, so football must be left for professionals to manage,"
What do say about Eguavoen (Austin) and the failure of the Eagles to pick a World Cup ticket?
"There were problems before Eguavoen came in. The players he met on the ground were not mentored by him; Austin inherited bulk of problems from Genort Rohr. Again, there wasn’t any time for him to get new players. That white man came and destroyed our football. I’m not asking NFF to give me the job but the truth must be said,"
"Nigeria FA must watch other countries, look at Senegal how many professionals they have, they started building a long time ago, and their manager was their former captain. They gave him the job and believed in him. At the last Nation Cup Senegal emerged victorious. Now look at Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria, their football is fast developing because they believe in local content and it’s working out well for them,"