Former Nigeria midfielder, Friday Elahor has opened up on the real reason behind his brief stint on the international scene and name dropped the player, who kept him out of the Super Eagles in 1994.
Elahor; a mesmerizing talent, could whiz and slalom past opponents with consummate ease; was so good he was also known as “The Elastic”.
However, he was a conspicuous absentee in Nigeria’s glory days in 1994 when the Eagles secured the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia and when the team also qualified for the World Cup.
In a chat with Brila.net he explained the factors behind his short lived Super Eagles career, where he earned only 14 caps between 1990 and 1993.
‘I had a long running battle with the Coach. It was a big deal at least between us, this was besides the fact that I was carrying a nagging injury that hindered me.
‘At the time, I wasn’t sure if I would return to the national team, but, Emmanuel Amuneke’s emergence also did not help the situation. He was in red hot form at the time and then I knew there would be no way back.’
Amuneke, then 23, scored Nigeria’s winning goals at the 1994 Afcon final against Zambia, and also starred at the Country’s debut world cup appearance. He was named the African Footballer of the Year that season.
