U17 AFCON: ANPP stalwart raps Ugbade for poor Golden Eaglets outing

All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) flagbearer in the last gubernatorial election in Gombe State, Mallam Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, has urged the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) to review the selection process for age-grade national teams even as he blamed coach Nduka Ugbade for Golden Eaglets’ ouster from the on-going U17 Africa Cup of Nations AFCON) Algiers 2023.

Mailantarki whose Abuja-based soccer academy, Mailantarki Care Football Academy, claimed an impressive double of Dana Cup and Norway Cup in 2022,said it is about time the NFF devise a new strategy of assembling players for age grade teams than leaving the careers of budding players at the mercy of only the head coach.

The Ugbade-led Golden Eaglets scandalously lost 2-0 to their Burkinabe counterparts in their quarter final match last Thursday and failed to secure a ticket to the forthcoming 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Mailantarki insisted that the Golden Eaglets would have performed better at the U17 AFCON but for the poor choice of players, adding the team’s coaching crew sacrificed merit hence the debacle that befell Nigeria in Algeria.

“The NFF has a long way to go with the U17 team because we saw this (defeat) coming,” Mailantarki posited in an interview with Naija Info. “ I happened to have some very good players in the team and at some point the management of the team agreed two of them were the most performing players in the tem but unfortunately, they were dropped at the end of the exercise.

“I was told they were dropped because they cannot communicate and I wondered what does communication has to do with playing football?”

Mailantarki who claimed he was assured the players would be considered for selection in the World Cup squad, queried the rationale behind such decision by the coach, adding the NFF must in the future ensure fairness and equity in selection of players for the national teams.

“How can we go to the World Cup when they didn’t go (to the U17 AFCON ) with the best players? “ he asked rhetorically.

“I wished hin all the best but look at what happened; but we saw it(disaster) coming.

“So the NFF must henceforth ensure that we don’t leave out the best players because they don’t have someone to push them ; they should let merit work,

“We have to be practical in the election of players and we can no longer allow just the coaches to do this in the face of all stakeholders .

“This is a national issue and not only about the coaches ; and we must ensure that only the best players represent the country,” he added.