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Coach Henry Nwosu has stated that players should be made to grow through the ranks in the national team when they emerge from age-grade competitions rather than been thrown straight into the senior national team.
Nwosu speaking in a chat with www.brila.net said the process of growing through the ranks will allow such players the right level of maturity and development while recalling how tough it was to convince a former junior team player Femi Opabunmi exactly 18 years ago that he will start against the Three Lions of England after been drafted into the Super Eagles team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan.
“I as a coach, I will always take it easy with any player that is coming from the underage team because it is not easy for you to play at the underage side and transform like that to the Super Eagles. It is not easy, it takes good players that is very exposed like us.
I was a ball boy player at the national stadium and played with young teams then I was the captain of the Junior Eagles you know so I grew through the ranks and the confidence grew with me but you know most of these players didn’t go through such advantage.
We thank God he didn’t put us to shame, but it was tough convincing the young man on that day that he was to start the match. “
