Former Super Eagles captain, Austin Jay Jay Okocha has expressed disappointment at the current team and has accepted that the national team might have lost a little bit of respect and the fear factor.
Okocha however, charged the current generation of players to take back the prestige and drag the team back to where it belongs.
In a chat with reporters , the former PSG attacker decried the current state affairs of the team and conceded that the results that are being recorded do not match the status of being the biggest footballing nation on the continent.
“I don’t think we are where we are supposed to be. We have always believed we are one of the best teams in Africa. But recently we have not had the results to match our status. Because of that, we might have lost a bit of respect and fear like it was during my era.”
Yet, the former Midfield wizard expressed confidence in the quality of players to turn their fortunes around.
“We have young players and it is all about getting them to play as a team and not as individual superstars. This is where the work of coaches will have to come into place.
“Without a doubt I think we have a good team.”
Okocha also remarked on Nigeria’s poor start to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
“We didn’t get off to a good start and I think we are focusing more on the rivalry between South African and Nigeria instead of the qualifiers for the World Cup.
” It is a big surprise that Rwanda is topping the group and I think we should change our mindset and focus more on qualification instead of the rivalry between the two counties.”
