Taribo begs Keshi to recall Yobo

Yobo

A former Super Eagles defender Taribo West has pleaded with Stephen Keshi to recall team captain Joseph Yobo as Nigeria prepare for their last Group F World Cup qualifying match against the Flames of Malawi.

Yobo, who was a key player for Fenerbahce in last season’s campaign in Turkey, last played for Nigeria at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa where he featured as a substitute in most of the games. He has since been left out of the team as Nigeria played all their matches in the qualifying rounds for Brazil 2014.

The former Everton defender recently lashed out at Keshi for leaving him out of the team while the coach has insisted that Yobo remains the team captain. But Taribo is not convinced that Keshi has Yobo in his plans, a situation, he said cost Nigeria an impressive outing at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil. The former Inter Milan and AC Milan defender said the Super Eagles defence lacked quality at the Brazil event and could be worse at future games, insisting that the team missed Yobo at the competition.

“None of those defenders has the experience of Yobo. I don’t understand why Keshi left him out and included players that have yet to experience top football,” Taribo said.

“If there is any misunderstanding between player and coach, this is the best time to bury their differences in the interest of Nigerian football. Keshi cannot afford to leave one of his best players out of the team and expect the rest of the team to perform miracles on the pitch. What Yobo played for his club in the Europa League showed he is still one of our best in Europe. How can Keshi be the only one that is not seeing this?

“Nigeria’s defence was embarrassing against Spain and Uruguay at the Confederations Cup. It was clear there was no coordination among the players. It wasn’t that they couldn’t match up with both teams, they just had no way of stopping them each time they broke through the midfield.”

Taribo said the technical committee of the Nigeria Football Federation should take part of the blame for Keshi’s failure in Brazil.

“The committee should be able to make Keshi see reason in selecting the right players. The selection should not be about ego or personal ambition, it is about national assignment. The leadership of the technical committee has yet to convince Nigerians that it knows anything about football,” he said.

He urged that the September 6 match against Malawi should not be used as another experiment with inexperienced players, warning that the Eagles’ weakest points are already widely known by would-be opponent.