A former Super Eagles midfielder, Moses Kpakor, has faulted the decision of Jose Peseiro to exclude home-based players from the squad that will take on Sao Tome and Principe in this weekend’s qualification series final-day fixture in Uyo.
Although Super Eagles on 12 points from their previous five matches, are already guaranteed a place in next year’s AFCON finals, they must earn at least a point to be sure of topping the group ahead of second-placed Guinea Bissau, who are on 10 points and are away to Sierra Leone.
Even as the match is a dead rubber, Peseiro has listed a 23-man squad filled to the brim with foreign based Eagles star players.
Only Enyimba’s goalkeeper, Olorunke Ojo, has made the squad from the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).
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In his reaction to the list of invited players, the former BCC Lions and Abiola Babes star told Daily Trust that a match like the one against Sao Tome and Principe should be prosecuted with a mixture of foreign and home-based players.
Kpakor said he has been an advocate for the inclusion of the local players in the team because it was from the domestic league that he played for the Super Eagles at the 1990 AFCON in Algiers.
According to him, Nigeria deserves a standby team at home so when matches come for some of the stars in the NPFL to be tested, they shouldn’t be denied such opportunities.
“We have to try and blend the foreign-basd with the local players. We have qualified for the next AFCON so home-based players should have been invited to play against Sao Tome and Principe.
“Clemence Westerhof started with us gradually and we progressed to form the nucleus of the national team. It was a gradual progress but we were all integrated.
“Of course, there is an international break so leaving out the foreign players completely would make no sense but at least 10 home based players should have been invited for at least four of them to start against Sao Tome and Principe.
“Teams are allowed to make many substitutions now so even if they don’t do well, they can be substituted. It is not good to have only foreign based players in the team,” said Kpakor.
