Nigerian stars missing as 2020 UEFA Champions’ League ends | The Nation

Nigerian stars missing as 2020 UEFA Champions’ League ends

On Sunday, all eyes would be on Estádio do Sport otherwise known as Estádio da Luz for the 2020 UEFA Champions League Final match between German champions Bayern Munich and French flagbearers Paris Saint Germain but like in recent times, Nigeria’s international players would be missing in action, report correspondentsThe UEFA Champions League is the World Cup of club football in Europe with the best players and coaches squaring up against each other with unbelievable statistics...

The Nigerian duo was a breath of fresh air and a delight to watch in a youthful Ajax side under the tutelage of Louis van Gaal, that overcame all odds to win the 1995 edition by beating favourites AC Milan 1-0. Unfortunately, the match also saw him become the youngest player to be given a red card in a Champions League match. But he grew from that experience and became one of the best left-backs in the history of Anderlecht and earned a move to Chelsea. Babayaro suffered double heartaches with Chelsea when they were stopped in the last four for two consecutive seasons in 2004 and 2005 by AS Monaco and Liverpool respectively.

“It’s the same with the Dutch team. We didn’t qualify for two major tournaments and if you look at the defenders, for example, we didn’t have players who were at top clubs. In the last two and half years, we did qualify for the next euros and now we have Virgil van Dijk , Matthijs de Ligt , Nathan Aké and Stefan de Vrij at big clubs. So it can change soon. Maybe someone like Victor Osimhen can be at that stage soon.

“I want to see most of our young players sign for bigger clubs that will be able to feature in the finals stages of the UEFA Champions League. We have a lot of young players and I believe with time, we are going to see them represent bigger clubs in Europe.” He offered that Nigerian players who are yet to play for too long in the domestic league before securing deals abroad have better prospects of playing for top clubs while at their peak in Europe and thus improve their chances of targeting the Champions League.

“It is until they get there you can’t expect them to be playing in the Champions League semifinal or final right now. The truth is that there is always a generation gap. Currently, Osimhen is the only notable Nigerian player with a big transfer move to Napoli during the ongoing transfer window. Ighalo went to Manchester United because he has played in Europe especially the EPL before he moved to China.

“We must first of all start from our home here where the standard of the league must be improved. When our league is improved and not about the Government’s social responsibility of just appointing people to manage a club, but about the fact that reforms must be made adequately such that we have a business orientation to running clubs,” Fuludu added.

Babangida disclosed: “The boys have to continue to do very well for their clubs so that they can be pictured out by top clubs. It is not all players that are opportune to play in the Champions League. It is meant for top teams in each country. He argued that even though Nigeria ranks only second to Brazil in the export of players to Europe and other parts of the world, the talents discovered have not been properly harnessed and guided to make the steady trajectory to the top.

Babayaro called for reforms of the Nigerian league which will ensure talents that are discovered are properly mentored and he also admonished Nigerian footballers to deemphasise avarice for cash ahead of their career.

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