Super Eagles Manager, Gernot Rohr, has blamed lack of patience on the part of the homebased players as one of the reasons why he has not been inviting them to the national team. Rohr also said lack of action in the Nigeria Professional Football League also played a big role in his decision to stick with the foreign – based stars most of the times.
Speaking with journalists at the weekend, Rohr said since his appointment two years ago, he had invited about 22 home-based players from the NPFL, but after just a cap, the next thing the players do is to travel outside the country. He added that such players could not be called home-based again and the technical crew would have to start again with new set of footballers from the domestic league.
Rohr also argued that it was tough to get fit players from the domestic league since the season was on break for six to seven months while there were so many of them playing week-in-weekout for their respective clubs in Europe and other parts of the world. “The problem is, anytime we invite a players from the local scene, few weeks later he is in Europe and no longer a home-based,” Rohr said.
“I have invited more than 22 home-based players but all of them are in Europe and every time we start all over again. “All of them want to be in the national team, because they see it as a sure way to big money move. ” I am not saying it’s a crime to travel out for greener pastures but they need good infrastructure back home to make them better players and make them to stay back. “The organisation (of the league), the training facilities, the transport, not playing for six months, all these must change for them to be able to get better opportunity in the national team. Read more
