17th August, 2011
Ex-Super Eagles and Ajax of Armsterdam winger, Tijani Babangida, has described the refusal of Dickson Etuhu to play for the Super Eagles in the botched international friendly match against Ghana as “a bad altitude†a football player can do to his country.
Babangida said: “There is no any reason for Etuhu to decline to represent his fatherland which some players out there are dreaming of playing for someday.
“If he has any grudge against the handler of the team, he is expected to iron it out with such person not for him to say he is not going to play for his country anymore. I think this is a bad attitude
“The colours of the country’s national team meant a lot to me while I was playing for the Super Eagles.For that reason, it was a thing of joy for us then to play for the country whenever we were called upon.â€
Etuhu, who plays in Fulham had refused to join the squad for the Ghana game as a late replacement for some of the players that could not visas to travel to London.
Another England based player, Danny Shittu, promptly agreed to be part of the team.
Etuhu has said that he would not feature for the Eagles under coach Samson Siasia for the manner he was shut out of the senior national team since Siasia became the head coach of the Super Eagles.
Etuhu featured for Nigeria at last Africa Cup of Nations in Angola as well at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa under coaches Shuaibu Amodu and Lars Lagerback respectively.
—Bamidele Olowosagba