Taribo Clamour For The Inclusion Of Flying Eagles Trio In SE Set Up

Former Super Eagles central defender Pastor Taribo West believes three players in the UAE 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup victorious team – Kelechi Iheanacho, Musa Mohammed and Musa Yahaya – could develop into key players in the senior national team.

He lavished praise on 18-year-old striker Iheanacho, who was UAE 2013 Golden Ball winner, saying “he’s a future star”.

Taribo said right back Mohammed, who scored three goals for the Golden Eaglets in the tournament, will go places.

“Our strikers disappointed us during the Africa Cup of Nations and I believe Keshi should invite   Iheanacho for our friendly matches to enable him to gain experience and confidence,” the Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games gold medallist said.

“Yes, Iheanacho is ripe enough to play for the senior national team. Mohammed and Yahaya should also be invited to the eagles because they are good players. They are not too young to play for the Eagles.

“We have many average players in the Eagles because our clubs lack the structures to develop quality players.”

“Iheanacho is a future star and he will get his chance at Manchester City. He’s young and has to be patient. He will develop to become a big player for the club because they have good programmes for young players. But he should be playing for the Eagles. Playing for the Eagles doesn’t stop him from being invited to the national Under-20 and Under-23 teams. Mohammed and Yahaya also deserve promotion to the Eagles.

Taribo says Nigeria could miss out on potential future stars if young players are not given call-ups by the senior team to compete with the established players ahead of friendly encounters or tournaments.

The 1998 UEFA Cup winner said, “If (former Nigeria coach) Clemens Westerhof didn’t give me, Nwankwo Kanu and other players the opportunity to train with the likes of Keshi, Samson Siasia, Austin Eguavoen, Uche Okechukwu, Rashidi Yekini, Ben Iroha, Emmanuel Amuneke, Daniel Amokachi and Finidi George I don’t think we would have developed to become big players.

“Westerhof invited us to camp ahead of the USA ’94 World Cup. During our training sessions, he would tell me to watch Keshi and other defenders.

“Although we were not selected for the World Cup, we learned a lot from the senior players.

“We can do the same thing with Iheanacho and other talented young players. We can invite them to camp to train with the senior players and learn something.

“One or two of the young players could break into the first team. (Brazil 2014 World Cup hero)) Mario Gotze is a young player (22 years), but he’s an important for the senior Germany national team.

“If properly guided, Iheanacho can be a world star. We should give him a chance to play for the Eagles because he’s a talent.”