5,207 total views,  3 views today

By Our Correspondent

Former Super Eagles handler, Samson Siasia have asked interim coach of the team, Augustine Eguavoen to extend call-up to Crystal Palace midfielder, Eberechi Eze to solve creativity problem in the midfield, www.bestchoicesports.com.ng can report.

Nigeria is due to play Ghana in the 2022 World Cup final qualifying play-off on 25th and 29th of this month and Siasia believes that inviting Eze to the team would solve the midfield creative problem that cost the team dearly during the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON in Cameroon last month.

“Well, we don’t just have a number 10, that is a creative midfielder in the mode of Jay-Jay Okocha that can distribute accurate passes to the strikers,”

“We don’t just have them now and that is why I have been thinking of Eberechi Eze with Crystal Palace. The Super Eagles need that player. He could be the next Okocha if we invite him,” he told The Sun.

“I have told Eguavoen that the team needs a player of his mould. He will be a good addition to the Super Eagles. We need somebody like him in the team because if you don’t have an offensive player who creates chances for the strikers to score, the team will have problems.”
“That is why we had the problem we faced during the Nations Cup in Cameroon.

“Strikers like Awoniyi will run around without getting the ball and we will say he did not play anything, yet nobody gave him the ball.
“When Sadiq came in, even though he missed many chances, he, however, created some chances too.

“Awoniyi is a good player, scoring very well, but we have to understand the network between the midfielders and attackers.
“If the strikers don’t get the balls, they have to create the chances by themselves. This is the biggest chance we have.”

However, despite Nigeria Football Federation, NFF as well as Gernot Rohr (former Super Eagles coach) approaches to the player, he is yet to confirm if he would play for Nigeria.

After watching him post series of stellar performances for Palace in the Premier League, the NFF admitted that they would want to see Eze switch allegiance and play for the Super Eagles, but say they will not ‘beg’ him.

Eze, born in England to Nigerian parents, represented the Three Lions at under 21 level. But through his parents, the 23-year-old also remains eligible to represent Nigeria at senior level and does not yet have a senior cap either way.

NFF president Amaju Pinnick visited the starlet in 2019 in a bid to convince him to pick Nigeria’s green and white strip over England’s white and red.