Nigeria are seeded as one of the Pot 2 teams in the Africa World Cup qualifying rounds for the 2018 World Cup, and are expected to be drawn in a tough group, but ex-international Garba Lawal has said he is not worried by the possibility of the Super Eagles facing heavyweights Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Burkina Faso as they plot to qualify for the tournament.
The Atlanta ’96 Olympic Gold medallist also reckons Nigerian players need to start playing regularly for their clubs if the country is to recapture its glory days.
“In the qualifiers, we should always expect tough groups. It shouldn’t be a case of wishing for the easiest groups. But the most important thing is for our players to be playing week-in, week-out for their clubs which is the number one problem of our football,” Lawal said.
“Unlike in the early 1990s and early 2000s when our players were doing well for both club and country, most of the players back then played regularly. But currently, most of our players don’t play regularly for their clubs which makes it difficult for the national team and also the coaches.
“There is always a difference between a player that features regularly compared to someone who doesn’t play regularly, the fitness and condition level will always be different.”
The 52-time capped Lawal also warned Nigeria to beware of the temptation to treat smaller nations as minnows, warning that there are no push-overs in football anymore.
“Our players need to buckle up. We have a young squad now – the likes of Alex Iwobi and Kelechi Iheanacho, they need to be playing regularly. And the attitude and character of the players must be there because there are lot of surprises as we can see at the ongoing European championships. And when it comes to the qualifiers, it is always difficult to play the smaller nations,” Lawal concluded.
