Former Super Eagles defender, Eric Ejiofor has opened up about his experiences during the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan.
Ejiofor didn’t hold back, calling the Super Eagles’ World Cup campaign a “disaster”.
The former Super Eagles player revealed that a series of internal conflicts trumped Nigeria’s disappointing performance at the 2002 World Cup.
“It is so sad. We just allowed that opportunity to pass by because of some people’s selfish interest. They were not thinking about the country,” Ejiofor lamented.
According to Ejiofor, the 2002 World Cup campaign was marred by controversies, including indiscipline in the squad.
He also criticized the decision to drop senior players, and alleged their replacements were selected based on personal connections rather than on merit.
“You cannot just disband the whole team. You disperse the players that qualified for the World Cup,” Ejiofor told Brila.net.
“They dropped some of the key players and brought in their own family and friends into the team.”
Ejiofor also pointed to a lack of unity within the squad, claiming that some players betrayed the group in pursuit of individual ambitions.
“The big players who were expected to not honor the national team call-up for a friendly match against Paraguay betrayed their co-players and appeared in camp.
“Someone like [Sunday] Oliseh was given a bad name for fighting for the players and not himself.
“The other players betrayed him because they wanted to go to the World Cup. They refused to stand by one another because they were eyeing positions in the team.”
Ejiofor insists the lack of solidarity extended to the coaching staff, which was disorganized and poorly managed, citing the presence of a “consortium of coaches” as an unnecessary complication.
“Few months to the World Cup, and you disband the team — it was not needed,” Ejiofor insisted. “When we got to Japan, unbelievable things happened in the camp.”
Nigeria reached the 2002 FIFA World Cup – its third appearance in the tournament – but the team was eliminated in the group stages.
