Current Super Eagles squad lacks real leaders, says Brown Ideye

Former Super Eagles forward Brown Ideye says the current senior men’s national team squad lacks leadership.

The ex-West Bromwich Albion striker, who currently plies his trade for Kuwaiti division one club Al-Yarmouk, was a key figure in the late Stephen Keshi-led squad that won Nigeria’s third Africa Cup of Nations in 2013.

Speaking in an X (formerly Twitter) space hosted by The Naija Football Conference, Ideye said the Eagles squad lacks real leaders like Vincent Enyeama and Joseph Yobo, ex-internationals.

“A leader has to be someone who has been in that team for years and years. In the present Super Eagles, we don’t have those players like Enyeama and Yobo anymore,” the 35-year-old said.

“Who do you want to call a leader, Ekong? It’s not about having the captain’s armband. Can Ekong sit Osimhen, Chukwueze, and Lookman down and speak to them? No.

“I don’t see Osimhen sitting down with Ekong and hearing everything he has to say without saying something back.”

Ideye made his debut for the Super Eagles in an international friendly against South Korea on August 11, 2010, under Austin Eguavoen. He has since then created eight goals across various competitions in 25 appearances for the three-time African champions.

He was last invited to the Eagles squad in 2016 when the team defeated Algeria 3-1 in a World Cup qualification fixture.