Obuh: My boys could have won Olympic ticket for Nigeria

BY BEN EFE

Just as the dust is settling on coach Austin Eguaveon’s failure to qualify for the London 2012 Olympics, former Flying Eagles coach John Obuh has sensationally declared that his boys could have done the magic for Nigeria.

Obuh submitted that he made suggestions to the appropriate quarters for some of his players to be drafted into the Under-23 team, but the idea was not welcomed.

“I suggested to them that we take some of  my boys. This was because they were coming fresh from the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia.

“But there was someone in charge and he didn’t consider my idea”, Obuh said.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the Olympics. The Under-23 team coach blamed it on his inability to secure the release of his star players for the CAF Under-23 tournament in Morocco. Nigeria failed to progress from the group preliminaries after losing to Morocco and Senegal.

“I feel that the that some of the Flying Eagles players could have given the Under-23 team a push to earn the Olympic ticket,” Obud added.

Obuh led the Flying Eagles to a quarter-final finish at the 2011 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. The Flying Eagles were denied movement to the final after they lost 3-2 to France. Obuh’s tenure with the Flying Eagles came to end shortly after the tournament.

“My contract with the NFF expired and I was expecting that I would be called for talks. But I haven’t heard anything from them yet.”