Super Eagles Head Coach Gernot Rohr gave three players their senior debut as Nigeria was held 2-2 by Ukraine in an international friendly on Tuesday and former Tanzania national team coach Emmanuel Amunike is calling for NPFL inclusion.
Ayodele Aribo, Josh Maja and Dennis Emmanuel were handed their first international caps by Rohr, but former Eagles winger Emmanuel Amunike believes that the Coach could have done more and for home-based players too.
In the 18-man squad selected against Ukraine, only one player based in Nigeria made the cut.
Heartland FC’s Ikechukwu Ezenwa was the only NPFL based player in the squad, and Amunike insists the German Coach can do more giving home-based players opportunities in the Eagles.
“Friendly games are not all about winning, but an avenue for you to test new players and the old ones if they can fit in,”
“We must be in a position to continue to see how we can develop our players, developing the players shouldn’t be only the foreign-based, even the home-based, the players in our league here. We must give them a sense of belonging we must let them realize that they are part of the project because it’s a project.
“Friendly games are meant to test the players; they are meant to invite a lot of players, you can decide not to bring in your regular players. Give them the opportunity, let them come and play from there you can continue to build.” Amunike concluded.
