The year 2002 wasn’t particularly significant in Nigerian football, if the Super Eagles had not been disbanded by the Federation after a mild but embarrassing players’ revolt during the Africa Cup of Nations in Mali.The Eagles finished third, and not for the first time, but it marked the beginning of the end of an era for the few remaining members of the famous Class of 1994.It was these few “renegades” who stoked the embers of a fire that brewed discord, and one that would be felt several months after, at the World Cup in Korea/Japan.The Renegades would be referred to as the Cabal; a term that has had many unsavory mentions in the past, and it was this group that former head Coach Adegboye Onigbinde will blame for the near fiasco which was Nigeria’s campaign in Japan at the World Cup.The 81 year-old recalls those memories, but not with fondness, rather with angst and deep regrets about inviting certain players and the subsequent infiltration by these unwanted elements, who – in his words – “sabotaged Nigeria’s world cup in Korea/Japan”.12 players from the dramatic episode in Mali were either foisted, recalled or impressed on the...
posted first on https://nigeriasoccernet.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment