This exclusively report on the real story
behind the clash between Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh and (former)
captain Vincent Enyeama on Tuesday night.
A source within the team's camp in Belgium, who witnessed the incident,
narrated the dramatic confrontation that led to the initial expulsion
and recall of Enyeama.
While the story doing the rounds is that the battle started because
Oliseh shouted down Enyeama while the Lille keeper was trying to explain
his late arrival in camp.
Oliseh, according to our source, had no issue with Enyeama arriving in
camp on Tuesday instead of Monday, since the coach was aware that the
keeper was recently bereaved and buried his late mum over the weekend.
But the clash started when, while holding a meeting with the players
after their evening training session which Enyeama attended but did not
participate in, Oliseh mentioned Ahmed Musa as the team captain. Enyeama
was said to have rudely interrupted the coach's speech at this point,
the Lille keeper insisting that he was the captain, not Musa.
This interruption apparently riled Oliseh, who ordered Enyeama to let
him (Oliseh) address his players in peace. But Enyeama continued
talking, raising his voice at the coach.
When Oliseh could not take it anymore, he ordered that Enyeama leave
the venue of the meeting as he felt the keeper was undermining his
(Oliseh's) authority.
When Enyeama refused to leave, Oliseh asked for the goalkeeper to be
forcibly removed from the Verviers Hotel camp by security men.
But five senior players in the squad: Mikel Obi, Ogenyi Onazi, Ahmed
Musa, Elderson Echiejile and Emmanuel Emenike, waded in and all went to
Oliseh's room to plead on behalf of Enyeama.
Also there were telephone calls from the Nigerian Football Federation
President Amaju Pinnick and even some big Nigerian politicians to have
the matter resolved.
"Enyeama was rude to Oliseh, no doubt. Oliseh has so many issues to
deal with, especially the inability of six home-based players to get
visas to join the squad, and the possibility of Godfrey Oboabona missing
the match, and he doesn't need this additional distraction.
"The embarrassment he got from Enyeama in the presence of the other players was uncalled for and disappointing.
"Oliseh just announced that Ahmed Musa remains his captain and Enyeama
flared up. He was told his response wasn't needed by the coach but
Enyeama was angered and would not back down.
"He was asked to excuse the meeting and when he didn't, Oliseh asked
for him to be bundled out of the team's camp, contrary to reports in the
media that Enyeama was asked to shut up while trying to explain his
late arrival, which wasn't even an issue.
"For goodness sake, a coach has the right to pick his captain for the team. New coaches do it all the time."
The source went further to explain that for Oliseh to drive down to
Lille at the start of the Ligue 1 season to discuss the rebuilding
process of the Super Eagles with Enyeama shows how much he respects the
former Enyimba star.
"Oliseh wasn't given the respect he deserved. He (Oliseh) is not a
saint and might not be completely blameless, but Enyeama should respect
the coach; he is the boss," the source added.
There were also hints from the team's camp that Oliseh was not happy
that Enyeama arrived early enough to train with the team on Tuesday,
only to spend the entire time chatting with team secretary Dayo Enebi,
asking questions about the new players in the squad, while Carl Ikeme
was the only other goalkeeper in camp and the team would need two for a
full session.
Sunday, 25 October 2015
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» Revealed! Real Story Behind Oliseh, Enyeama Clash In Belgium




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