Opinion: Why Invite A Player That Saw Only Eight Minutes Of Action All Season

Opinion: Why Invite A Player That Saw Only Eight Minutes Of Action All Season By Omolagba Oluwayemi Yesterday, Coach Gernot Rohr released 24 man squad which includes captain Ahmed Musa, deputy captain William Ekong among others to prosecute the double-header friendly match against five-time African champions Cameroon in Austria but to my hotmost surprise is the inclusion of a certain Valentine Ozornwafor who saw only eight minutes of action all season. Who Is Valentine Ozornwafor? Valentine Ozornwafor, he is a Defender plying his trade in Turkey with Galatasaray. Valentine Ozornwafor is a Defender who has appeared in 1 matches this season in the Turkish Süper Lig, playing a total of 8 minutes. He concedes an average of 0 goals for every 90 minutes that he is on the pitch with his clean sheets ratio currently at 100%, meaning he has kept a Clean Sheet in 1 matches out of the 1 that he has played in yet he made the Super Eagles final 24-man list. In a season where Galatasaray lost the league on the final day to Beşiktaş J.K. by one goal difference, conceded the least goals in the league (36), the Nigerian defender was only good for 8 minutes yet he gallantly made Gernot Rohr's final list, that shows how badly other Nigerian defenders performed so far. Samson Dare is one of the most in-formed players in the NPFL, he has played 20 league games out of 22 for table toppers Akwa United in the NPFL this season. He has kept 12 clean sheets, conceded 12 goals, won an average of 1.85 points per game for his club but a man with just 8 minutes of action all season is preferred. Ernest Governor, a dependable defender for Rangers International who has played 17 league games this season with a goal scored and an average of 1.75 points per game yet he's not considered good enough for a friendly but an 8 minutes man is better off. Kwara United have conceded 14 goals this season but none of their defenders could be given the chance to prove themselves in a friendly but a man whose permanent position in the team is on the bench deservedly made the team. Surely, not all invited players will be used in executing the friendly match. It is then better to invite the home-based players for exposure and also to increase their market value. I don't want to go to Europe where we've got number of defenders who deserve to be given a chance ahead of the Galatasaray defender but whom the coach deciced to ignore for God knows why. It is what it is today but I remember there were times where players in the local scene will make the team list ahead of the foreigners, I remember the days where being a regular in your European club doesn't even guarantee you'll make the squad but today we have a man who don't even know what it is to run through the length and breadth of the field for 30 minutes but majestically invited into the national team. No wonder the national team is not what it used to be again as anyone can just walk into it through the back door. I wonder if those who approved the list were sleeping when they did and I'm still in awe as per what criteria they used in selecting a man who is only good enough for 8 minutes in Turkey.