NPFL Quality test as Super Eagles B face Ghana in CHAN qualification decider
The Super Eagles B team is made up of NPFL players and will tomorrow take on the Black Galaxies of Ghana for a place at the 2023 Championship of African Nations – CHAN.
On Saturday 3rd September 2022 , the NPFL stars will have a chance to justify calls for increased home based spots in the Super Eagles A team or vilify this calls by failing to go past Ghana at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
The match , a second leg of the CHAN 2023 Qualifiers will see Coach Salisu Yusuf tutored Super Eagles B team attempt to overturn a 2-0 aggregate deficit to reach the Home based players Nations cup tournament in Algeria .
Memories of how the Super Eagles A team fell to Ghana’s Black Stars in the race for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification , and how many Nigerians including this writer believed the inclusion of some NPFL stars in those games would have brought a different outcome .
So when the draws for the Algeria 2023 CHAN paired Nigeria against Ghana , it was perhaps an opportunity to push our claim and vilify Coach Austin Eguaveon for not trusting the NPFL Stars in the team for the ill fated World Cup playoffs .
A 2-0 loss at the Cape Coast Stadium in the first leg left much sour in the throat of the Caretaker and other NPFL Apostles , but the opportunity of Saturday’s return leg is one this players must take , for themselves , the pride of representing over 200 million Nigerians and for us who believe NPFL players are good enough for a spot in the A team.
Nigerians have particularly been vocal for the inclusion of this NPFL stars in the main Super Eagles team , many believing this players can compete favourably with their foreign based compatriots .
Infact , Former Super Eagles Head Coach Genot Rohr was a recipient of mass criticism when he claimed there wasn’t enough quality in the NPFL to challenge the foreign based players for a place in the Super Eagles team .
As Interim Coach, Austin Eguaveon did not trust them too and current Head Coach will be watching from the stands to see for himself whose report he will believe .
To qualify, the Super Eagles B team must put in a near perfect performance to send the Ghanians back to Accra in wait for a CHAN appearance for a fourth straight edition .
Failure to qualify will mean the Super Eagles B team will miss out on a second straight CHAN appearance having failed to reach the last edition in Cameroon .
The decision to throw open the gates will ensure the Eagles have enough support from the stands to cheer them to victory or if the opposite happens question the quality of the NPFL and our calls for increased NPFL stars prescence in the main Super Eagles team.
May the Eagles fly tomorrow!!!!!!