David Ngobua
25 May 2011
As reactions continue to trail the list of Super Eagles players invited by Coach Samson Siasia for the international friendly against Argentina and the Africa Nation’s Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia, former international Tijani Babangida has expressed shock over the exclusion of defensive midfielder, Sani Kaita.
The former Kano Pillars star who now plies his trade in the Dutch league has been over looked by coach Siasia even as other players like Yusuf Mohammed, Yusuf Ayila, Isaac Promise and Ejide Austine have been recalled to the team.
Kaita’s ordeal as far as his international career is concerned began at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa where a momentary loss of self control led to his dismissal in the last group match against Greece. Since then, it has not been easy for the player to return to the senior national team despite several appeals from prominent football stakeholders.
In a chat with Trustsports yesterday, Babangida expressed shock that even at this moment that Nigeria is re-building her national team, Kaita is excluded simply because of a mistake he made long ago. He said Super Eagles need the service of the ever reliable defensive mid-fielder saying the team should not be made to miss his contributions.
Babangida expressed unhappiness but said he would not want to comment much because it would appear he is nagging over the player. He reiterated that Kaita is a good player and the mistake he made should not be enough reason for him to be shut out of the national team.
“I said earlier that he must be pardoned. However, I won’t be talking about this too much because I don’t want it to appear as if I am nagging. You know Nigerians can easily misunderstand me.
“Kaita is a good player and the team needs him especially now that the re-building process is on. Let them give him a chance to return to the team”, he pleaded.
AllAfrica – All the Time