REVEALED: 3 Super Eagles stars who gave the national team coach problems

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering sports and football in Nigeria and worldwide.

FCT, Abuja - Former Super Eagles captain and head coach, Sunday Oliseh, has named Vincent Enyeama, John Obi Mikel, and Emmanuel Emenike as the three players the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said were problematic to the national team.

Legit.ng reports that Oliseh, 49, managed the Super Eagles for seven months - from July 2015 to February 2016 resigning due to 'the inability of the NFF to honour the terms of his contract'.

Oliseh who featured for the three-time African champions in two world cups had a seven-month stint with the Super Eagles as head coach. Photo credit: Picture Alliance
Source: Getty Images

Speaking in an interview with Elegbete TV Sports published on Tuesday, July 2, Oliseh said one of his regrets as Super Eagles coach was when Emenike called to inform him of his decision to retire from the national team.

The former Juventus and Borussia Dortmund player described Emenike as a “great and nice guy”, adding that the ex-Fenerbahce man was “totally opposite of what some people at the NFF had told me about him”.

He explained:

“When I was signed by the NFF to coach the Super Eagles, one of the things they told me was that they had not qualified (for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON) because they were having problems with certain players in the group. They said these players also gave so much problems to Stephen Keshi, and that was why Nigeria did not qualify.“They had asked me not to invite any of these players into the Super Eagles. Now, what I told them was, I myself, as captain, I knew NFF is not easy. I said in all fairness to the players, what I would do is this, I begged the NFF, I said ‘look, let me talk to them, let me try to get them on board. Let me share my philosophy with them. And let’s see how it goes’.“When this happened, I called the captain of the team which was Enyeama. With my assistant coach, I took my own car and went to his place.“The three players the NFF had the most problems about, they told me it was Enyeama, John Obi Mikel, and Emmanuel Emenike.”

Oliseh unimpressed with Mikel

On Mikel, Oliseh accused the Chelsea legend of disregard, saying when he sent a message to the UEFA Champions League (UCL) winner, “he never responded; he never called me back; he totally ignored me”.

Furthermore, the ex-Super Eagles coach revealed that he scheduled appointments with Mikel and Victor Moses in London, both Chelsea players at the time. While Moses honoured the meeting, Mikel refused to come.

Source: Legit.ng