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Wimbledon legend John Fashanu has noted that the Nigeria squad at
the 2018 World Cup is not balanced as they have too many youthful and
inexperienced players which could lead to their downfall during the
tournament.
The former England international
has advised Gernot Rohr to go in search of more Victor Moses to bolster
his squad after the World Cup, if he remains the coach of the national
team, adding that there are some players of Nigerian descent plying
their trade in the English Premier League the manager is unaware of.
Fashanu
has expressed regret that he chose to represent England internationally
over Nigeria, and has advised the likes of Tammy Abraham, Fikayo
Tomori, Dominic Solanke and Philip Billing not to follow in his
footsteps.
''Even myself, I had the
opportunity, sadly I couldn't get the opportunity as much as I wanted to
play for Nigeria, so I opted to play for England, became the first
Nigerian to play for England which is great,'' Fashanu told Channels Television.
''Now
we are trying to persuade many of our players who are abroad to come
back home and play for their fatherland. The mistakes that we elders
made have gone and past, now let's start building.
''It is not enough to get Victor Moses and maybe Mikel Obi, we need a few more solid, older experienced players.
''It is not enough to get Victor Moses and maybe Mikel Obi, we need a few more solid, older experienced players.
''Obviously,
Victor Moses is an all-rounder, there is nothing he can't do, as long
as that is the first name any manager should start up with, obviously
Mikel Obi because he is experienced.
''That is our captain, he is an experienced man, he has played over the world, he knows what he is doing but we need more.''
Fashanu
continued : ''We have them everywhere, it was difficult for people to
know John Fashanu was a Nigerian when I was playing in England.
''We
have wonderful players playing in the English Premier League who are of
Nigerian descent. It is for the coach to do his work, go and find these
players.
''The English Premier League and playing in Europe gives you an experience you cannot find anywhere else.
''The English Premier League and playing in Europe gives you an experience you cannot find anywhere else.
''Playing
against Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham is different from playing
in the local league, so it gives you an advantage. It is for the coach
to go out there and start looking, so we have a nice balance.''
Brian
Idowu, William Troost-Ekong, Leon Balogun and Tyronne Ebuehi are the
foreign-born players in the Nigeria squad for the 2018 World Cup.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
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