Nigeria U17 Coaches Discriminating Against Dual-Eligible Players; Aston Villa Starlet Embarrassed By Ugbade

Published: September 01, 2019

Allnigeriasoccer.com understands that the chances of dual-eligible players making the Nigeria roster for the 2019 U17 World Cup are very slim as the coaches have set their sights on picking only Nigerian-born players for the tournament in Brazil.

It means all the good work done by NFF Vice President Shehu Dikko will come to nothing.

Dikko specifically advocated for the inclusion of promising talents of Nigerian descent playing for English clubs to train with the Golden Eaglets squad in Abuja.

The Golden Eaglets coaches are looking to win at all costs and have alleged that the foreign-based players lack the physicality to play at the U17 World Cup.

Although this has been denied by officials, this website has been reliably informed that majority of the dual-eligible players have been sent packing.

There is the curious case of the 6-feet-4-inches tall central defender on the books of Aston Villa, Iffy Udanoh, a player recommended to the Golden Eaglets by Shehu Dikko.

Nduka Ugbade did not mince his words, with the assistant coach informing Udanoh he wasn't good enough to make the roster, which left him embarrassed.

Officials are also unhappy the central defender, who is legitimately a 16-year-old as he was born in the United States, is keeping a beard and have instructed him to shave it off.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel