Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh insists Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi and Vincent Enyeama will have to earn their call-ups to the team, as the former Nigeria captain expressed his delight to have earned his first win in charge of the three-time African champions.
Mikel and Moses, as well as big players like Odion Ighalo, Ikechukwu Uche and Brown Ideye were left out of the team that battled to a goalless draw against Tanzania in their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Dar es Salaam on Saturday.
Oliseh also excluded the players from the team that beat Niger 2-0 in a friendly match in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
He told SuperSport after winning his first game with the Eagles on Tuesday that no player was irreplaceable.
“There is room in the team for every Nigerian. All I am just asking them is to get playing time in their clubs. All the players who played (against Niger) today are playing regularly for their clubs,” he said.
“Nobody is irreplaceable in the team. Nigeria is the only entity that is not replaceable. We all are replaceable. I retired and Nigeria continued. There is still room for (goalkeeper Vincent) Enyeama, Mikel and Moses. I am happy that Moses got his loan deal with West Ham.
“The players who played today (Tuesday) have shown that they are hungry to play for the country. They also have already started picking up points in the ranking of the team and all those who are coming after them will have to fight to get into the team and that is what we want for Nigeria.”
The former Juventus player added that the team would get better with each match, adding that fans should judge the team as they progress.
He said, “I think we are getting better. We are better organised when we lose the ball and we are also better when we press forward but there is still much to do. We still have to hold on to the ball for longer periods and dictate the pace of the game.”
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