Super Eagles news: “Very poor” – Ex-Leeds United defender raises concern over NPFL quality

Former Super Eagles and Brentford defender Sam Sodje has given a honest assessment of the quality of the Nigerian Premier Football League, Afrik-Foot exclusively reports.

While players from the local league have been called up for major tournaments in the past, including the 2013 African Cup of Nations, Super Eagles coaches in recent times have largely overlooked home-based players in favour of those playing abroad.

In that AFCON edition in South Africa, six NPFL players made the final 23-man squad, with Sunday Mba going ahead to score the decisive goal in the 1-0 win over Burkina Faso in the final.

There has also been a major interest in players who hold dual nationality, with the Nigeria Football Federation recently making contact with Newcastle United forward William Osula over a potential switch, weeks after Wrexham goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo also committed to the Super Eagles. 

Ex-Super Eagles defender Sam Sodje laments low quality of NPFL

Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle recently revealed plans to give some NPFL players a chance ahead of next month’s Unity Cup defence in London.

Speaking exclusively to Afrik-Foot, Sodje believes the standard of the domestic league has played a role in the national team recent struggles, as Nigeria have now missed consecutive editions of the FIFA World Cup.

“Like I always say, no disrespect to the local league and the organizers. No disrespect to them but I don’t think we have a league in Nigeria and that’s the problem. I’ve been in this country for a while now and I’ve watched the league. I think it is very very poor”, the former Brentford defender said.

“The security and the quality of the games is not what you expect, that’s why we are always calling for the NFF and the league body to put more interest in the league. It doesn’t make sense if your league is not doing well and you expect your national team to do well.

To have a bigger pool of players to pick from, the home-based are very important. I’m not going to blame any coach that doesn’t pick a home-based player because the standard of the local league is not really what you can watch. I’ve been here and I know what I’m talking about.”

Despite his criticism, Sodje still believes there is talent within the league that can succeed if given the right opportunity.

“It’s a fact but that doesn’t change the fact that we have some quality local players who will do well if given the chance. But you need to be playing regularly good football in a good standard of league and the Nigerian league cannot pass to be a professional league because everything that goes wrong always goes wrong.

“Bad things happen everywhere in the world but it happens too often in the Nigerian league. You almost hear about something happening every two weeks and it’s really bad. But if we can get the league up to standard, I’m very sure more players will get into the national team, which we need to be competing for position and helps the national team”, Sodje concluded.

The Super Eagles will return to action in May for their Unity Cup defence, with several NPFL players expected to get the opportunity to impress.

Nigeria will then face Poland and Portugal in June, before turning attention to the qualifiers for the 2027 African Cup of Nations later in the year.