Olatunde Disu, former Technical Director, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), on Monday said that the Super Eagles needed the services of natural left wingers to have an edge over other teams in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Disu made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) while reflecting on the chances of the senior national team at the coming 2019 AFCON to be hosted by Egypt.
The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, is scheduled to be the 32nd edition of the competition.
The tournament will hold from June 21 to July 19, 2019, and will see the Eagles making their 17th appearance in the competition having first qualified in 1963 held in Ghana.
Nigeria are three times champions of the tournament winning on home soil in 1980 with Disu an assistant coach, after then they won the tournament in Tunisia 1994 and South Africa 2013.
The team will be chasing its fourth glory when the tournament gets underway in Egypt in Group B being what many pundits term an easy group that includes Madagascar, Burundi and Guinea.
However, Disu said that for the Gernot Rohr’s team to excel, they needed an infusion of natural left footers to effectively contribute to the attacking lineups.
“The team is presently doing well and with what is on ground as my own assessment, the team equally needs the services of natural left footers to join the attack.
“Tracing back to history when the team was dominant on the continent, we have natural left footers who were always joining the attackers to score goals.
“In 1980, we have Adokiye Amiesimaka, who is very good with his left foot and Segun Odegbami on the right, in 1994 the team had Emmanuel Amuneke and in 2013 Victor Moses.
“The team still needs the services of natural left footers because this will give them an edge over other teams though the team is in a relatively easy group now.
“The coach needs to search for natural left footers that can effectively assist the attackers since we have yet to have a playmaker at the centre now,’’ he said.
Disu said that the Eagles still have the chance of lifting the tournament for the fourth time, adding that the oppositions were not much for the team.
“With the present form of the team, I am optimistic that the team can still go ahead and win the competition because there are not too many opposition to them now.
“The opposition from the West African countries is not much for now because they are not in form. Countries like Ghana and Ivory Coast or Cameroon are not in form right now.
“The only strong opposition, according to my knowledge, is Senegal and from the North Africa, Egypt, and Tunisia, I don’t think we should not beat Algeria if we meet again.
“I fancy the team to win the tournament if the right things are done, especially in the area of the natural left footers though they are scarce nowadays, but we can still get one,’’ he said. (NAN)