As the controversy surrounding the non-inclusion of certain players into the preliminary 32 man list released by Stephen Keshi for the forthcoming Orange African Cup of Nations, a former Nigerian international, Tijjani Babangida, has stated emphatically that the services of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Obafemi Martins, will be sorely missed.
Martins, Osaze Odemwingie and Taye Taiwo were the notable names missing on the list but only Osaze’s absence generated heated debates especially, following his Twitter rants.
However, Babangida is speaking out on behalf of the Levante striker who appears to have found his blistering form once again since moving to Spain. The 1996 Olympic gold medal winner admits that even though Keshi is in charge of the team and has the final say, he still believes Martins should have been considered for the Nations Cup.
“Obafemi Martins should have been included in the team because he has been scoring goals in Spain almost every weekend,” Babangida argued.
“Though Keshi should be allowed to pick his team, Martins’ experience and goals would have helped the team in South Africa.
“At the 1998 World Cup in France, the late Rashidi Yekini was included in the team because of his wealth of experience if things didn’t go well with Victor (Ikpeba) and the others.”
Babangida also made a case for the inclusion of Sivasspor of Turkey striker Michael Eneramo on the provisional squad.
“I was equally surprised Eneramo was not considered at all since Keshi took over despite his exploits in Turkey,” he noted.
I hope Keshi’s action will not back-fire like his predecessor’s in the last AFCON. The trio would have made a big difference in our squad.