Amuneke To Rohr: Chidera Ejuke, Awoniyi Deserve Eagles Chance

Former Super Eagles winger, Emmanuel Amuneke has tasked the Technical Manager of the senior national team, Gernot Rohr to find a way to accommodate some young players in Europe who are doing very well for
their respective clubs.
Amuneke specially mentioned Heerenveen of Holland left-winger, Chidera Ejuke and Mainz 05 Striker, Taiwo Awoniyi among others whom he claimed are doing well in Europe and deserve to be given opportunities in the
Eagles to ensure that the team becomes more formidable at every
Ejuke
position.
The 1994 CAF Player of the Year who is also currently the Academy Supervisor, Misr Lel Makkasa of Egypt noted that he scouted Ejuke for the Golden Eaglets team that won the FIFA Under 17 World Cup for Nigeria in 2015. He noted that even though he was not able to make it to the World Cup he saw talent in him.”When I first saw Chidera it was in Kaduna when I was going around Nigeria to scout for players to make up the Under 17 for 2015 edition,” Amuneke told our Correspondent exclusively.
“There are a lot of academies in Kaduna and it was organized in the barracks. It was there I discovered Lukman Halilu Zakari who plays for Real Betis and I brought him to Abuja to try with the rest of the team.
“Chidera is a very good player technically. As a young boy, you could see the technicality in him as a player but of course, there are other aspects that must be improved but unfortunately, he was not able to make that team. Due to one reason or the other which I don’t want to go into details.
“He is a very good player and I am happy for him that he is doing very well in his club. Chidera and others are future Eagles players that can become strong and household names in the national team.
“He is a very talented player. When you see him with the ball, his decision making and domination with the ball show that he is a very good player. Of course, we shouldn’t be carried away and forget that in 2015
most of these players were playing on the streets. Actually they do not possess the ability to be at the top level but of course, you can see the promises in them.
“I am happy that he had the opportunity to go to Holland and he has been able to develop himself over there and then become a player that people are looking up to in the future.

It was not only him as a player I also had Jack Ipalibo and Chidozie Awaziem in that 2015 team. One thing or the other they were unable to make the team. But for me I am happy that they are continuing to grow and do the right thing.
“Awaziem I saw him also in Jos after I had ended that of Kaduna camping. Jack I found him in Umuahia. There is a whole lot of good players but the most important thing for them now is to continue. Those that made it
to the World Cup were able to achieve the objective of winning the competition which shows that we presented a very strong team to the FIFA Under 17 World Cup in 2015.
“There were a whole lot of factors responsible for the inability of some players to make it to the World Cup then ranging from the MRI Scan test while some have issues with their ages and International passports but the most important thing is that most of them are making progress and we hope one day they will be in the Super Eagles and be able to make themselves and the nation proud.
“Every player deserves a chance. When you have this kind of player now, what you need to do is to expose them. Taiwo Awoniyi of the set of the Golden Eaglets class of 2013 is doing well also. He has done well to maintain consistency.
“The technical crew must find a way to accommodate the new young players that are springing up now. The coach must find a way to put them into the programme and gradually you will start having a formidable team. It is always good to have a very strong team in every position. Even the players not playing may even be better than those that started the game.

“The whole thing depends on the plans you have for them. If they are doing very well for their clubs I think they deserve to be given opportunities and then it is up to them to justify if they really deserve to be in the national team. They have something different from others in the team before them to stand a chance of being picked.”