Why I removed Enyeama as Eagles captain — Sunday Oliseh

By Tony Ubani

The dramatis personae in what has become known as the show of shame of Belgium have been speaking on their actions even as they put aside their differences to confront Congo in a friendly match today in Belgium.

Gaffer Sunday Oliseh who described the altercation as a normal disagreement in a family, however, has explained his actions of stripping first choice goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama of the Eagles captain’s band and handing it over to CSKA Moscow forward Ahmed Musa.

Speaking on Brila radio, Oliseh said that the storm was over but insisted that Musa, the man who takes over as captain of Eagles have all the qualities of a good captain.

‘’I want a captain who is disciplined. A leader who can motivate other players. A player who  comes to camp early. I want a young player not a retiring player as captain. And Ahmed Musa is that player. He is my captain’’, Oliseh said.

When you have a new government like our honourable president just came in, he’s picked his ministers. And you have your philosophy and you have your way of working.

“As a coach I have looked at the team and I have looked at Nigeria going forward. We need a captain who will think of staying with Nigeria for several years to come, who is regularly in the front. And Ahmed Musa did a great job for us in Tanzania under very difficult circumstance. He is a very responsible player and he is the captain of the team. So he is the captain of the team, there is no question of a tussle.

“The fact that I would like to have somebody (as captain) who is thinking of playing now and not somebody who is preparing for retirement or thinking of life after-football. And I think it’s time we had peace and quiet around the Super Eagles. That is why I am glad that most of the players here are finding ways to work as a team because I get the feeling now that they are aware that they are representing 170 million people’’, Oliseh said on Brila. He explained that the camp was in good mood ahead of today’s match. ‘’The players have shown their desire and we are working on stringing them together. It is unfortunate that the home-based players are yet to be given visas but we are hopeful that they will be here for the second match against Cameroon on Sunday’’ [Vanguard]