AFCON 2019: Rohr's Choice of Francis Uzoho is not a Scrutiny of My Performance - Daniel Akpeyi
The first choice goaltender of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Daniel Akpeyi, has said that the decision to rest him in their third-place game against Tunisia has nothing to do with criticism on his performance against Algeria but it was to create room for other keepers to participate in the tournament.
He
expresses his opinion which falls in line with what the coach said about his
squad selection for the third-place match.
The
Super Eagles’ coach Gernot Rohr has stated that he would select his squad from
the list of players that have not played in the course of the tournament. He
wants most of them to participate at least in the tournament.
He has
opted to use Uzoho who has not had any time during this tournament unlike
Ikechukwu Ezenwa who was the netkeeper in the match against Madagascar. The
statement of the coach falls in line with what the first choice goalie is
trying to say.
“It
is a coincidence that Francis Uzoho is going to be starting when my performance
is under scrutiny again just like it was when we played against Argentina in a
friendly game like two years ago,” Akpeyi told Goal.
“I
remember that two days before that friendly game with Argentina in
Krasnodar, Russia, the coach had
called me and informed me that he would like to use Uzoho also in that
game. He said I would be starting the game while he would replace me in the
second half.
“I
know that Nigerians will start saying that this is another mistake from me and
that the same goalkeeper is replacing me.
"Even
though I made a mistake which resulted into one of Argentines’ goals, my
substitution in the second half was based on what the coach had told me with
before the game that I would only take the first half but it was twisted to
mean that it was because of the goals I conceded.”
Despite
not being chosen to secure the goal post he is confident that the Super Eagles
of Nigeria would emerge victorious over Tunisia.
“I
have always believed in everybody in the team that we can beat Tunisia,”
he added.
“We
have a good team no matter what the criticisms are. We failed to qualify for
two consecutive Afcon and it was the same set of players that Nigerians are
clamouring for now that played those qualifiers.
“But
we were able to qualify this time and even got to the semi-final and still in
the running for a third-place finish. It shows that young talents are evolving.
I must commend the hard work of our coach who stated that everybody must get
playing time here in Egypt.
No comments