Yobo Drums Support for Eagles against Swaziland
Speaking in Lagos ahead of the clash in Lobamba, the former Everton of England defence stalwart told THISDAY that the greatest mistake Eagles will make is to consider the Southern African nation as minnows.
“This is a very crucial game not minding the fact that we are playing Swaziland. Every game is now very important. It doesn’t matter whether we are playing Argentina or Swaziland.
“There are no minnows in African football anymore. African football is now so tough. What matters most is getting the job done and smiling out of the away game with the crucial three points ahead of the return leg in Nigeria,” observed the former Fenerbahce defender.
Yobo is however happy with Sunday Oliseh on the bench of the Eagles. “We should be able to get victory against Swaziland with the calibre of coaching and players invited for the match.”
The former Eagles supremo described the recall of Obafemi Martins and some other senior players back to the team as a welcome development.
“From my experience as player and captain of the senior national team for several years, I support the recall of some experienced players like Obafemi Martins back to the team. I have been saying it ever since that there is the need for smooth transition of younger players into the squad.
“You just cannot discard your experienced players in favour of inexperienced young players. Things don’t work that way. You need the experience of the senior players in the team. It was like that when I came into the team. And as a senior player, I was guiding the new, young players until I left,” recalled the Rivers-born ex-international.
Against this background of support for experienced players, Yobo questioned why AFCON 2013 top scorer, Emmanuel Emenike was allowed to quit Eagles when younger players need his experience to guide them.
“I was very upset when I heard that Emenike retired from the team. I was not too happy because Nigeria still needs such an experienced player in the team. But with Emenike’s exit, I think it is a good decision to bring back Martins who is doing very well for his MLS team in the USA,” reasoned Yobo.
He said that Nigeria lost that ‘fear factor’ in the minds of other African countries because they no longer see in the Eagles experienced players who were household names in the continent.
“We struggled in the last two years before I retired from the senior national team because of the frequency at which inexperienced players were coming into the team and the transition didn’t allow for proper blending before heading out to major competitions. But I see that being a thing of the past now with the coming of experienced senior players doing very well in their clubs,” concludes Yobo.
The reverse fixture clash will be held at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, November 17 which will see the aggregate winners move to the group stage of the qualifying series.
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