Joseph Dosu, a former Super Eagles goalkeeper, has described the rumored disagreement between captain Mikel Obi and teammate Ogenyi Onazi as baseless.
Recall that there was tension in Nigeria’s camp ahead of the 2018 World Cup over a rumoured stand-off between Mikel and Onazi.
Onazi had already denied that his relationship with the Tianjin TEDA midfielder was strained.
Dosu, however, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos, criticized the spate of fake news, making the rounds from the camp of the Super Eagles in Austria.
“It’s funny how fake news get around, the sad thing is that those peddling such lies, always fail to put into consideration the effect of such lies the moment it gets to the ears of the public.
“Such a rumour is baseless at this point in time, they don’t need such distractions to destabilise the peace in the camp, because before a team can play cohesively on the pitch, they need to bond first.
“They can only stay focused when malicious individuals don’t try to spread unnecessary rumour; I spoke with these two gentlemen and they assured me that it was a rumour and nothing more,’’ Dosu said.
Dosu, who was a member of the victorious U-23 team that won the gold medal at the Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games, added that the two players were definitely conscious of what is at stake.
“These are men that understand that it is an honour to play for one’s country, therefore there is no room for one’s ego,’’ the former Super Eagles player added.
The former Julius Berger of Lagos FC goalkeeper urged Nigerian teeming football fans to support the players as they strive to represent the country creditably at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
“All these boys need now is the support from fans and not rumoured division among the players, they have done well to qualify now, let’s all support them as much as we can,’’ he said.
Eagles will open their account at the World Cup on June 16 against Croatia, at the Kaliningrad Stadium in the City of Kaliningrad.
Their next match is against Iceland on June 22, and their final match in Group D is against Argentina on June 26.
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