Get Ready To Quit If Eagles Fail, Jalla Tells NFF Board
As the Super Eagles prepare for tomorrow’s clash against the Warriors of Zimbabwe in continuation of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the Chairman, Task Force of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN), Harrison Jalla, has told the President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, and his board members to prepare their resignation letters, if the team fails.
Jalla also carpeted the team coach, Jose Peseiro, over what he called ‘archaic’ pattern of football for his 4-2-4 formation against the Crocodiles of Lesotho in Uyo, on Thursday, where the Eagles escaped home defeat.
The Eagles were expected to fly out to Butare, Rwanda, yesterday, for tomorrow’s tie against Zimbabwe, who rescued a point in their fixtures against Rwanda on Wednesday.
An angry Jalla stated that any result other than outright victory against Zimbabwe would knock the Eagles out of the race to the 2026 World Cup to be hosted by USA/Canada/Mexico.
“Gusau and his fellow board members should be ready to quit if the result against Zimbabwe is not favourable to us,” Jalla said. “Nigerians are holding them responsible for this poor situation the Super Eagles have found themselves. Coach Jose Peseiro is a ‘baggage’ inherited from the Amaju Pinnick-led board, and I expected the Gusau-led board to build a new course by sacking him long ago.
“It is the pattern a coach gives to the players that they will execute on the field of play. We saw what the late Stephen Keshi did with the Super Eagles in 2013 and 2014. He assembled the bulk of his players from the local league, and won the AFCON title in South Africa and played in the second round at Brazil 2014 World Cup.
“A responsible football federation would have built on that legacy. But the Amaju board veered off the lane completely and here we have Gusau taking our football backward. The result in Uyo has shown that both the Gusau-led board and coach Peseiro are birds of a feather. They have to go,” Jalla stated.
Meanwhile, former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Alloy Agu, has told the players to put behind the ‘shocking’ draw against the Crocodiles of Lesotho Thursday in Uyo, and focus on tomorrow’s fixture away to the Warriors of Zimbabwe.
Agu stated that it would amount to flogging a dead horse if the players continue to rue the Lesotho draw, adding that the Crocodiles match now belongs to the past.
“The qualifiers have just started and it will be too early to predict what will happen until the end of the group games. So, anything can happen in the game of football.”
Hafsoh Isiaq is a graduate of Linguistics. An avid writer committed to creative, high-quality research and news reportage. She has considerable experience in writing and reporting across a variety of platforms including print and online.
