JS hercules of finland head coach, Daniel Amokachi has blamed the Super Eagles players for the country's failure to make it to the finals of the 2017 African Cup of Nations in Gabon.
Nigeria's problems started when they fail to beat Tanzania in Dar Es Salam in September and lost to
Egypt in Alexandria after playing a 1-1 draw in Kaduna last month.
"The players when return to play in Africa on international duty forget to switch [mentally]. It’s something that we kind of struggle with – not only as Nigerians, but as Africans," said Amokachi, who was assistant coach of the national team when they last won the tournament in 2013.
"You play in Europe and everything you get is professional from A-Z and then when you come to Africa, the likes of transportation and accommodation can seem a distraction."
"The players forget to switch to being an African when they come back and that always makes them perform less than what they do at club level. I’m sure that has contributed to Nigeria not making it to back-to-back championships. Not qualifying for the tournament is not good enough for a country like Nigeria, but that’s football. It makes you sit up and say: ‘We have a lot of work that needs to be done."
Shortly after conquering Africa in 1994, Nigeria were sanctioned for political reasons and 'the Bull', explained that the Atlanta Olympic Gold erased the bitterness of missing the nations cup in South Africa in 96.
Amokachi added "Back then Nigeria was on sanction from the United Nations and the football that we played during the Olympics made Nigerians forget about the problems they were going through by focussing on football,” said Amokachi.
"The manner in which we did it made us incredibly happy. Playing the giants of South America, and then coming back from behind against the likes of Brazil in the semi-final and Argentina in the final."
"It was an incredible experience being an Olympian and winning a gold medal. It’s something that I’ll cherish all of my life." he told fifa
Amokachi Blames Super Eagles Players For AFCON 2017 Miss
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