Babatunde Ogunja, an ex-Green Eagles player and Chairman of Sunshine Stars FC of Akure, says football players plying their trade in the Nigerian professional football league (NPFL) lack certain football techniques.
Ogunja who spoke after Sunshine’s goalless draw with Rangers bemoaned the dwindling fortune of league football in Nigeria.
He said the draw in their Week 23 tie was due to a lack of enterprise on the part of players of both teams.
He noted that they had come for a win against Rangers but that the draw was a consolation for a team that also shared points with them in the first leg.
“Football is a game of goals. Scoring goals and winning is the beauty of football, but unfortunately, players these days are not goal-hungry,” added the ex-Eagles international. “It was a good match but not too good because both teams played without focus, they played as if they did not want to win, no anxious moments, the two teams failed to convert goal-scoring chances.”
Ogunja, who played for Water Cooperation, Ibadan, and Ewokoro Works FC, which later became Abiola Babes, said it was sad the players could not shoot with precision.
“In our days, we had sharp shooters like Aloysius Atuegbu, Moses Otolorin, myself and some others. We could shoot from anywhere, but now they want to walk into the net,” he stated. “We need positive football. Why will a player who is in the 18-yard box run back to the midfield with the ball instead of accelerating to the goal area? Normally defenders do not like to run.”
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