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Nigerians trade insults over defeat
Posted: Monday June 29, 1998 03:08 PM
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Viktor Ikpeba and Nigeria pointed fingers in the aftermath of a disappointing loss (AP) |
PARIS (Reuters) -- Nigerian World
Cup players and officials accused each other of incompetence and greed on
Monday after Africa's last and biggest hopes crashed out of the tournament
with a 4-1 thrashing by Denmark.
Sani Toro, the secretary of the Nigerian Football Association (NFA) branded
the team a "bunch of money-mongers" and accused players of holding
officials to ransom before the extraordinary second round defeat.
Toro claimed the players had written to the NFA before the match demanding
$10,000 before they would play.
"They called it 'incentive fee'," he said.
"We had no choice but to pay them. The Nigerian government gave us all we
wanted for the World Cup and the NFA ensured the team had a good coach,
nice camping facilities in Switzerland and we paid all bonuses to the
players in good time.
"Its a shame they can accuse us of poor organization."
Nigeria's football teams have a long history of behind-the-scenes
squabbling over who will play in matches, what tactics to use and what
bonuses will be paid to whom.
Goalkeeper Peter Rufai, a veteran blamed by many spectators if not by
teammates for giving away goals to the Danes in a woeful overall
performance by the Super Eagles, had attempted to turn the heat back on
officials.
"It was a game we lost from the beginning," he said.
Nigeria had been on a high after beating Spain 3-2 and Bulgaria 1-0.
But it appeared to have fatally fallen for the rave reviews after those
games and was 2-0 down on Sunday after 12 minutes.
Rufai said: "We lacked concentration because of a couple of problems based
on poor organization by the Nigerian Football Association. The NFA never
bothered to look after the players and when this happens you get this kind
of result against Denmark."
Other players slammed the shell-shocked coach Bora Milutinovic, accusing
him of getting his tactics all wrong and not intervening when it was clear
something was amiss.
The Serbian-born coach, who has taken four countries to the second round of
the World Cup, said his contract expired at the end of the tournament. Like
his entirely overseas-based team, Milutinovic intended to steer clear of
Nigeria.
"I agree with anyone who says it was a poor Nigerian performance," said
Uche Okafor, who was on the bench on Sunday.
"We lacked passion and commitment in the game. Watching from the bench we
knew our tactics were poor and the manager couldn't do anything," said the
U.S.-based player.
"Some of us left the bench in anger to the dressing room before halftime
because the coach didn't bother about the team when some players were not
giving a 100 percent performance. He should have made changes but he didn't
make them."
Monaco striker Victor Ikpeba, ignoring the fact that his below-par
performance might have made him a target, said Milutinovic should have
pulled players off the pitch:
"The manager didn't make the right changes. He should have brought on some
players after 15 minutes because the players were not doing well. We lost
with bad tactics."
Milutinovic, trying to steer clear of the arguments, avoided the
allegations about his tactics.
"It is not in my place to make excuses after defeats. I have no reaction to
allegations of poor tactics and not making the right changes in the game,"
he told reporters.
But NFA chairman Abdulmumini Aminu said it was time to overhaul Nigeria's
whole approach to the game.
"This Danish roasting marks a watershed in our soccer history. It calls for
time to reorganize. Now we'll go home, overhaul the technical team in time
for the African Cup of Nations tournament in 2000," he said.
"We will think more of our home based players to be a part of our future
squad. I'm not saying we'll discard the foreign-based stars but here in France most of
them displayed a questionable attitude when it mattered most."
It was left to Ajax midfielder Sunday Oliseh, scorer of the superb winning
goal against Spain, to offer an apology.
"I don't think we were complacent," he said. "We were caught on a very bad
night. I feel sorry for our millions of fans about this performance.
"For myself, and I think for most of my colleagues, it is time for us to
reflect on our future in the national team."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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