Super Eagles Head Coach Stephen Keshi yesterday warned that he will not be interested in talking about out-of-favour striker, Ikechukwu Uche who is yet to play for the national team since after the 2013 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) win.
A visibly angry Keshi said that he will never beg any player to play for the country because during his time he was never begged by any coach to play for the national team.
The former national team captain who was explaining why he chose to invite young and inexperienced players while ignoring established players like Uche and Obafemi Martins, Keshi said hence forth he would not entertain any question about Uche again.
“This will be the last time I will speak about Ike Uche and I will not speak about him again, we are not quarrelling. Before the match against Congo, I gave them the list because I never thought I would come back to handle the team. I told them I will not do the list because I am not your coach they say no, so I did the list.
“Ike Uche’s name was in the 24-man list. He didn’t even know about it, I did not tell him. Uche called me four days later and I was like ah, we spoke and that was it.
The next time I told the team secretary to ask the players if they had South African visa and if they don’t have it so that they can get the visa. When Uche was asked, he said why are you asking me, what do you need my passport for? I hate to speak without Uche not being here. You can call him and put it on speaker, if I’m telling lies let him say it.
“Please nobody should ask me about Uche again; Uche said he wants somebody to explain to him why they said he was a bad kid, and if not he is not playing. I said ok take his name out. I am not going to beg Uche, I’m not going to ask Daniel to beg Uche. We all played for this country for twenty something years and nobody begged us to play. We were begging to play. So let it be the end today, don’t ask me about Uche. Why not encourage the kids who have come here to play for their country. Why must it be Ike Uche, is it only him, Obafemi is not saying anything, we have hundreds of other players who are not here,” Keshi warned.
He also admonished the media to support the young players who are eager to play for the country instead of always talking of Uche.
“I don’t know when we will be appreciated, we win, they say we didn’t play well, we lose they say ah, kill them and we draw, they say they are bad players. We really don’t know where we stand, when will we be appreciated?”
Many analysts have been calling for the recall of Uche after the poor start of the Super Eagles to the 2015 Morocco AFCON qualifiers.
