Former African footballer of the year, Victor Ipkeba, has revealed he was never a striker in his early days as a footballer.
The ex-Super Eagles’ star, who was a member of the Atlanta ’96 Olympics gold winning squad, disclosed this on Monday Night Football on SuperSport.
In his words: “I get angry seeing players giving excuses whenever they experience poor outing.
“I heard some players were saying we are played out of position that’s why we lost.
“I get mad while listening to this.
“Let me say this for a very first time: I was never a striker during my early days in football.
“I was a midfielder, but when I joined the then Golden Eaglets, I was converted from the midfield to the right wing.
“When the coach told me I will be playing in that position, I had no choice than obey because we are all seeing it as a challenge wearing the green and white jersey.
“I went ahead to play in that position and I came out in flying colour in all competitions I participated.
“So, I think if the team spirit is high, all these excuses won’t come up after their poor performances in Niger.”
In a similar vein, the former Borussia Dortmund forward slammed the technical crew of the Nigeria Flying Eagles.
Ikpeba said: “This is the worst set of Flying Eagles I have ever seen.
“I won’t blame the boys that much, but I will blame the technical crew.
“The African Youth Championship is our birthright.
“Why should we go there and finished fourth?
“Although, we are all happy we qualified for the forthcoming FIFA World Youth Championship in Poland in May.
“I’m using this medium to charge coach Paul Aigbogun-led side to go back to the drawing board and put things together ahead of the competition.”