The former midfielder has called for support
for coach Sunday Oliseh who faces an uphill
task in his quest to win the African Nations
Championship in Rwanda.

Former Nigeria captain Austin ‘Jay Jay’
Okocha has warned against using the
performance of the B Team at the African
Nations Championship (CHAN) to judge
coach Sunday Oliseh’s ability.

The CHAN, a tournament for players based in
their country’s domestic league, kicks off this
weekend in Rwanda with Nigeria chasing a
first title after finishing in third place in their
tournament debut two years ago.
There’s pressure on coach Oliseh in his first
full tournament in charge of the national
team which he took charge of in July 2015
and his former team mate believes it is not
yet time to scrutinize the trainer.
“Well, I can’t set any target for the Super
Eagles and coach Sunday Oliseh as far as
the African Nations Championship is
concerned,” Okocha told Goal .
“Oliseh is my friend and he is my colleague. I
think he’s got all it takes to get us back on
track. We don’t have to use the CHAN to
judge him. We just need to encourage and
support him and let him do his thing.
“Hopefully he is the right person to take us
to where we want.”
Nigeria’s fortunes have plundered in recent
times as they have fallen down the ladder on
the international index.
Yet Okocha, winner of the Africa Cup of
Nations in 1994 when the national team was
ranked as high as fifth in the world, feels
that it is just a bad patch.
“I have no fears as regards the Super Eagles’
position as 66th best in the world and 14th
best in Africa because big countries and big
teams go through difficult periods,” he said.
“Honestly speaking, we are going through
rough periods but there is nothing to be
ashamed of. We just need to work hard to
be back to where we rightly belong.
“It is a challenge because our results
recently have been poor. We just need to
accept it and fight our way back to the top.”
After the CHAN tournament, Nigeria will
return to their hunt for a ticket to the 2017
Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) against Egypt.
“As regards the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, I
believe that the Super Eagles can qualify but
we have to do our homework well to achieve
this. We have to accept first of all that we
are no longer who we used to be. We have to
humble ourselves and realize that we are
starting afresh. Once we accept our fate at
the moment I think we will qualify,” Okocha
said.
“As regards the way forward for the Super
Eagles and Nigeria football, the way forward
is to accept our fate like I said, to humble
ourselves and to realize the fact that things
are no longer the way they used to be. Once
we accept that I think that it would be a
great beginning for us,” he concluded.

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