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Former Super Eagles [/b]Captain, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, recently spoke at the unveiling of the African Heroes Penalty Cup in Lagos, where he called on the Super Eagles to be more consistent and stable in their bid to maintain their status as Africa’s number one team. Okocha, who just celebrated the 30th anniversary of his first call up to the Senior National team, expressed his concern about the Super Eagles’ recent performance, noting that the team had been less impressive in recent years, missing important competitions like the World Cup. According to him, “We all want to see our Super Eagles doing well, we know how it is painful not to be in the World Cup, the team needs to steady the ship. The Super Eagles need to be more consistent, which is so obvious that they are not.”
Okocha also advised Victor Osimhen, the in-form Nigerian striker, to remain grounded and keep his passion and spirit high, saying “My advice to Osimhen is to remain grounded and keep the passion and spirit high. It is clear that he plays with hunger and that is what I like about him. Osimhen should not let down his guards.”
Regarding the contract extension of the current coach of Super Eagles, Jose Pesseiro, Okocha explained that he expected the Nigeria Football Federation to take an informed decision, saying “It is not in my place to advise the NFF what to do about Pesseiro’s contract, because they are there for a reason. They should take a wise decision and get it right.”
Okocha, who is the Tournament Facilitator of the African Heroes Penalty Cup, will feature alongside Daniel Amokachi and Finidi George to represent Nigeria in the competition, which will feature eight African countries, including Nigeria, Morocco, Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon, Mali, Cote D’Ivoire, and Senegal. Each country will have three representatives to play a knockout quarter-final game until the finalist emerges to produce the eventual winners of the competition. The competition will be held in Lagos at a yet-to-be-announced date later in the year.
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