Don’t write off Eagles yet —Dosu

A former Nigeria goalkeeper, Joseph Dosu, says the Super Eagles should not be written off following their poor results in recent matches.

The Eagles lost 1-0 to Uganda in their friendly match in Uyo on March 25 and battled to a 1-1 draw against Bafana Bafana of South Africa in another friendly encounter in Nelsprui, South Africa on March 29.

Dosu, who lamented the team’s poor performances since winning the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, blamed the constant reshuffling of players in the team after the tournament for their poor performances. The Eagles failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea, but the former Julius Berger star believes the team will bounce back.

He said, “I can’t say the team is improving or declining. Obviously, they are in a worse form than they were at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, but they are also trying to stay afloat as a team to reckon with in Africa. It’s just not fair to condemn them at this time.

“The result against Uganda was terrible, especially coming on home turf (at Ibom Stadium). The draw against South Africa showed we’re still struggling to bounce back to our former position on the continent.”

The Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games gold medallist said the problems with the Eagles started with the rebuilding process adopted after their 2013 AFCON victory.

“The English, Spanish or German teams don’t rebuild the way we do. They would rather introduce one or two new players to join the established ones,” he said.

“In our case, however, we tend to remove about 60 per cent of the squad, especially when crucial games are approaching. This was what happened after Nigeria won the Africa Cup of Nations and were preparing for the 2014 World Cup. There should have been continuity. If we stop this idea of rebuilding every time and concentrate on consolidating the team, we will get it right.”

The former Reggiana keeper, however, refused to blame interim coach Daniel Amokachi for the Eagles’ recent poor results, insisting that the former Nigeria forward had done his best with the team.

He said, “Amokachi is not a bad coach, and I don’t agree that he is incapable of managing the team. I agree, though, that he has to show some level of loyalty to his out-of-contract boss Stephen Keshi and at the same time go along with the wishes of the Nigeria Football Federation.”