Former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh has voiced his concerns over a troubling trend in Nigeria’s football where captains of the national team frequently sitting on the bench during matches.
In a candid discussion on Channel Sports, Oliseh labelled this phenomenon as “an anomaly,” asserting that a team’s captain should be on the pitch leading their teammates.
“This I want to call an anomaly, and it started when we began having on-the-bench sitting captains,” Oliseh stated emphatically. “You can’t have that. You can’t have your captain sitting on the bench. In other words, you are saying it is an assistant that is leading the team.”
Current Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa recently returned to the squad ahead of the 2025 Unity Cup for the first time since the national team’s participation in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Musa made a brief appearance, coming off the bench in the 62nd minute of a tightly contested match against Ghana, which the Eagles won 2-1, before departing camp for his wedding celebrations.
The ongoing debate around team leadership and player roles continues to raise questions about the future of Nigerian football as they prepare for significant upcoming fixtures.
