Arthur Ebunam, a former Rangers International FC of Enugu midfielder in the 1970s, has hailed Coach Gernot Rohr for the quality players he selected for the World Cup preparation.
Ebunam told the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Enugu that the list had shown consistency on the part of Rohr, as it contained most of those that played in the qualifiers.
The ex-Rangers player, who also plied his trade for the now defunct Standard FC of Jos, said his only worry was that not many home based made the cut.
Ebunam, an advocate of grassroots football, said the World Cup would have been an opportunity for Nigeria to stun the world with one or two products of the domestic league.
He said: “I have seen the list and I think the coach is still working with a crop of players whom he has featured for some time; this is good for us because we cannot continue to experiment.
“But the only thing is that I did not see the number of home-based players I expected, I counted only two, we need to allow more of them who are good to go to camp.
“World Cup is always the opportunity for countries to surprise the world with new talented players from home.
“However, I want the Nigerian Football Federation to ensure optimal welfare and good training programme for the players.
“We are happy that the feud between players and administrators over welfare has not been there for some time.’’
NAN reports that the 2018 World Cup will kick-off on June 14, with Russia taking on Saudi Arabia at the Luzhnniki Stadium in Moscow.
The Super Eagles will open its account against Vatreni (The Blazers) of Croatia at the Kaliningrad Stadium in the City of Kaliningrad.
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