Babangida demands Emenike’s replacement

Former Super Eagles winger, Tijani Babangida, has advised the Super Eagles coaching crew not to be overly reliant on Emmanuel Emenike in the country’s quest for sustained glory.
The Atlanta ’96 Olympics soccer gold medal winner for Nigeria, believes that as a former football star, frequent injury to a player always has a lingering psychological effect.
He wished Emenike could get back as soon as possible but in his absence, he cautioned that Nigeria must face the challenge of finding a suitable replacement for the upcoming matches next month.
Emenike, who had been on the sidelines since the semi-final of the recent African Cup of Nations, returned to action last week.
However, the attacker, also known as ‘Spartacus,’ sustained an injury to his internal meniscus and partial damage to the internal lateral ligament of the knee.
He is scheduled for arthroscopic surgery in the near future.
Babangida said: “We are in a precarious situation for the World Cup qualifying matches, with the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil also in June. Having won the AFCON early this year, we have to sustain a high standard at global level. Nigeria is blessed with potential from where we must find a replacement pending the return of Emenike.
“Becoming over-reliant on Emenike (who played a vital role in Super Eagles’ conquest at the last African Cup of Nations in South Africa) will equate us to a tag similar to the ‘No Messi, No Barcelona’ that the Catalan giants are currently living with now.”