2 hours ago
6
LAGOS – Former African Footballer of the Year and technical adviser of Heartland Football Club of Owerri, Emmanuel Amunike, has advised club owners and other stakeholders of the local football league to stop settling for quick fixes in Nigerian football.
Rather, according to Amunike, focus should be more on building players that can compete on neutral grounds rather than picking out selective games to win at all costs.
Amunike made this call on Wednesday in Ilorin after a Nigerian Premier Football League, NPFL, match with home boys Kwara United FC, where Heartland suffered a nail biting loss by 1-0 loss.
The defeat ended the Owerri side’s five match unbeaten run.
“The NPFL have been doing well but they must do more.
“It would be easy for me as a coach or as a club owner to always win at all costs. But can we say that we have boys who can compete well.
“In Nigeria we like quick fixes. But in football, the reality is that there are no quick fixes.
“But we intend to go back home and correct ourselves and move on from there.
“Yes there were a few calls that should have been awarded to us but I don’t want to talk about officiating.
“Kwara United won today and that is good for them.
“But the question is, we should always try to tell ourselves the home truth.
“Are we preparing our players to compete or just to win matches? This is my concern,” he said.
A 21st minute header from Emmanuel Ogbole of Kwara United broke the deadlock.
Heartland fought spiritedly for an equalizer, hitting the woodwork twice in the second half.
Amunike put the goal scored to a lapse in concentration by his boys.
“My game with Kwara United was a very tough game.
“Unfortunately we conceded a goal in the first half as a result of poor concentration. But for us today we were not lucky.
“We had a great deal of chances too. I don’t want to talk about the officiating.
” But the fact still remains that if we want our football to grow, we have to raise the standards at all levels,” he said.
Asked to explain the club’s resurgence after an initial slump at the beginning of the season, Amunike said, “actually there was no preseason for us.
“On our way to pre-season we lost one of our coaches.
“That affected us greatly and it prevented us from preparing. And most of the players we have here are young players and most have not been tested in the league.
“We had the courage to give them the chance to grow, knowing that nothing in life happens without a process .
“So whether we started slowly or otherwise what matters is the process.
“I am not interested in the destination, I am more focused on the journey. I know the journey will lead me to the destination,” he said.
