Eaglets need mentorship, not national honours - Patrick Ekeji

Former Director-General of National Sports Commission (NSC), Patrick Ekeji has advised the government to secure the future of the players through mentorship rather than conferring them with National honours. For the fifth time, the Amuneke tutored-side recently became the only second team to retain the FIFA U-17 World Cup with a 2-0 win against Mali. Speaking to newsmen in Owerri on Tuesday the ex-coach noted that the players ought to be nurtured into complete, professional footballers.  

“The whole idea of the age group championship is to bring the young players together in a sporting environment to showcase their talents. We should be more worried about the future of these young talents and not to confer National honours on them.

He continued, “In Spain for example, most of the national players are still playing in their domestic leagues but in Nigeria, the case is different. “If Nigeria’s world rating must improve, we must assemble all our youthful players and nurture them to transit into the senior team,’’ he said.