BY PAUL EREWUBA
Ex-England international, John Fashanu, has said that Nigeria has lost its international reputation in world football due to lack of quality players.
The former England striker insisted the nation has lost its weight in world football due to recent poor showing at international competitions.
It would be recalled that the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations (which begins on Saturday in Gabon) twice in a row and the former Wimbledon forward blamed the country’s poor grassroots development for the situation.
“We ask ourselves where are the potentials? Where are the Jay Jays, Kanus and the Fashanus – where are they?,” Fashanu rhetorically asked.
“They are not coming out now. Sometimes you need to take one step back to move forward.
“Because right now there are lot of potentials but there is no international quality we need to breakthrough.
“And if it is not there, we are surely not going to get recognition. What do we rank now? The ranking of Nigeria is currently between 50 to 60 in the world.
“I’m sorry to say that we are irrelevant. And when it comes to football we should be right up there in the top 15 to 20.
“We want to see some of the potentials and let’s not keep calling it potentials but let’s see some stuff come back again,” he said.
After missing two Africa Cup of Nations, the three-time African champions would be hoping to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.