Berti Vogts Photo: Sun News Publishing

More Stories on This Section

Former Edo State commissioner for Sports, Barrister Ken Ihensekhien, has charged the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) to fire Berti Vogts if Super Eagles fail to lift the Nations Cup, which begins in Ghana later this month.

The fiery legal practitioner, who is now the Commissioner for Agriculture in Edo State, drew inferences from the English FA that booted out Steve McClaren for failing to qualify England to the Euro 2008 Championship. And therefore, concluded that the same treatment be meted out to Vogts if he fails to lead the star-studded Nigerian squad to glory in Ghana.

Ihensekhien told Sunday Sunsport that with the quality of players in the Eagles’ squad, coupled with the support the NFA have given him since he resumed, Vogts does not have any option than to win the Nations Cup if he wants to retain his reputation as a world class coach.

According to him, the German should know that this assignment would be his first baptism of fire, and therefore, he must deploy all his coaching expertise to ensure that Nigeria conquer Africa by winning the trophy.
"From my point of view, I think there’s a great need to remind the Eagles’ head coach that Nigerians are looking up to him and his squad to deliver the 2008 African Cup of Nations trophy to us.
"You will agree with me that we have been married to bronze all this while in the championship, but this time around, the entire Super Eagles’ technical crew should be thinking of the gold.

"If what the NFA Chairman, Sani Lulu and the secretary general said in the pages of newspapers is anything to go by, I think Vogts does not have any reason to fail, because all he needs to do the job has been provided for him. So, all we need now is good result.

"Right from the days Vogts was appointed as Super Eagles’ head coach, friends of the game have always seen him as a competent coach, who can do the job for us. So, he must brace up to the challenge by proving his fans right. He should, therefore, see this task as a big challenge.
"Some years ago, Clemence Westerhof, a foreign technical adviser like him, took the national team to the Nations Cup and conquered the rest of Africa, and today, most Nigerians are still talking about him. So, it would be a good thing if Vogts should surpass that record.

"For me, Nigeria has one of the best squads in Africa, because when you look at the rate our players are making waves in their various clubs in Europe, you can easily conclude that there’s no team in Africa that can match Nigeria in the field of play.

"But the big question is: why are these boys not serious when they come to represent the country? Well, I’m sure that, that orientation has become a thing of the past.
"So, I want to use this opportunity to tell the players that they stand to gain a lot if they should win the Nations Cup. Kanu Nwankwo and his colleagues should try their best to beat past records in order to write their names in gold. And to achieve this, they must work like a team and play like wounded lions. They must not allow any team to stand as a threat to them, because they have what it takes to conquer Africa," he advised.

"However, the technical crew must work on the Eagles’ defence, because if we have strong defenders in that department, it would be difficult for any team to see our goalposts.
"If you ask me the teams that will emerge for the finals in Ghana, I will pick Nigeria and Ghana. Ghana, because they would want to do everything to impress their fans, though they will be under serious pressure.
"But take it or not, if Vogts fails to deliver, that would be his end in Nigeria," the commissioner added.