Head coach of the Nigeria U20 team Ladan Bosso has revealed that representative of some players are putting him under pressure to pick their clients in his squad ahead of the U20 Africa Cup of Nations, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Bosso’a team are currently in Abuja for the second phase of camping where 35 players were officially invited to fight for the 26 slots available in the final squad for the tournament in Egypt.
Despite the coach insisting on training with the numbers he invited about 20 other players who were not invited turned up uninvited, and he allowed them to train seperately from his invited players before a decision will be made on their addition to the main team.
Speaking on the difficulties he is facing in picking his final list, the coach revealed he already turned down a bribe of €100,000 ( 81 million Naira), insisting that he is not going to be swayed by money when he decides on the players in his final squad.
“Since we opened camp, a lot of football agents have been making overtures to me”, he was quoted as saying by www.InsideNews247.com.
“In fact, just recently, some European football agents approached me and offered me 100,000 Euros (about 88 million Naira) that they’ll be sole rights owners of all the players in the Nigerian U-20 team should they get any offer from clubs during the championship in Egypt.
“Of course, I turned down the offer, because my team selection is based on merit.
“Our preparation is a continuous process of substitution by elimination ”
” I want to be held responsible, should the team fails, which I am not praying for to happen ”
“I don’t delegate my duties to my assistant coaches. I am always involved in the team’s build-up and preparations to the championship ”
