Former Super Eagles midfielder and captain, Sunday Oliseh, has given reasons for the struggling nature of the star studded Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles.
Oliseh revealed that the former Eagles coach, Joe Erico stripped naked and cursed the team.
The ex-international postulated that Erico curse might be what is working against the Nigerian national team, as they struggle to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Recall that Oliseh captained the Eagles at the 2002 African Cup of Nations. And he also helped the team come from behind to qualify for the World Cup in the same year.
Oliseh recalled that he was not included in the squad for the tournament in South Korea/Japan of the same year, as he was omitted for disciplinary reasons.
Jay-Jay Okocha was handed the skipper’s armband and Oliseh announced his retirement from the national team.
”Festus Onigbinde was also put in charge of the Nigerian team, although Shuaibu Amodu, Joe Erico and Stephen Keshi were the core trio of the coaching team. They were the ones that helped Nigeria qualify after they were five points behind Liberia in the qualification process.
At the tournament, the Eagles were eliminated in the group stage, earning a point without scoring a goal.
Recalling what the incidents, Oliseh claimed Erico laid out a curse on the team for the ill treatment.
“Coach Erico made it very clear before his death that what they did to us in 2002, he sat down in his room naked and he cursed Nigeria,” Oliseh on the Home Turf podcast.
“He’s a great guy, great human being, lovely guy. He came, took over the team. Erico, Keshi and Shuaibu Amodu.
“Keshi was still finding his feet as a coach, and he invested so much. He always called me into his room and made me aware of his plans to make sure Nigeria qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
“We were five points behind Liberia in the qualifiers, just like what’s happening currently. Everyone had written us off, but when they took over, we became united.
“Keshi phoned me from the United States while I organized the players, and gradually, we built ourselves,” Oliseh said.