The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has decried the performance of the Super Eagles under Jose Peseiro, saying secondary school teams of his his time will beat them.
Super Eagles have only claimed four victories of their nine matches under their manager Peseiro, losing the remaining five, with the side scoring 18 goals and conceding 15.
In an interview with PUNCH, Onyema assessed the men’s national football team, saying they can not withstand the enduring strength of secondary school teams of the 70s and 80s.
“Those days used to be very tough. In fact, secondary school games in those days used to be tough. I remember when I played for Government College, Ughelli, they even killed one of our school boys in Agbarho (Delta State). It used to be tough in those days,” Onyema said.
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“Let me tell you, secondary school teams in the 70s will beat our national team of today. The present national team will be nowhere near the secondary school teams of yesteryear. I’m not talking about clubs, those days, secondary school teams were unlike these days.”
The 59-year-old lamented the dearth of sporting facilities in present day schools, adding that parents are only interested in education.
“Today, secondary schools are now in two-storey buildings, no compound, no playground. Everybody is protective of their child, nobody allows the child to go out again to experience the street life,” Onyema added.
He advocated for the use of football as a means to create employment opportunities and urged the government to prioritise sports.
“We should use football to create jobs. I call on this government to look into sports, if they can invest in it and make the place safe for people to go and recreate on weekends, we will bring back that followership. It will still happen again,” he said.
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