Sunday Oliseh: I Made Super Eagles Stronger By Bringing Iwobi, Moses Simon

Former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh has stated that the national team was weak until he introduced some young players into the squad after his appointment as coach in 2015.

Hale End Academy product Alex Iwobi was being groomed to play for Nigeria's Olympic National Team by Samson Siasia but was fast-tracked into the Super Eagles by Oliseh ahead of friendly matches against Cameroon and DR Congo despite the fact he was yet to debut for Arsenal's first-team.

In addition, the likes of Moses Simon, Wilfred Ndidi, William Troost-Ekong, Abdullahi Shehu, and Kelechi Iheanacho made their international bows under Oliseh.

''One of the first things I did when I got the job was to bring a lot of young blood in because the team itself was already on the wane,'' Oliseh said to ESPN.

''Players like [Alex] Iwobi, I brought into the team, I gave him his first call-up, and some others who had been sidetracked like Moses Simon.

"I brought them in and pushed them up."

Oliseh stepped down as coach of the Super Eagles in February 2016, citing breach of contract by the Nigeria Football Federation.

Igho Kingsley