Super Eagles head coach José Peseiro debunks speculations that there’s an ongoing rift between him and forward Kelechi Iheanacho due to the latter’s lack of game time at the 2023 AFCON tournament npflupdates.com reports.
Iheanacho is yet to feature in any match since he joined the Super Eagles AFCON squad in Ivory Coast few weeks ago.
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The Leicester City man arrived camp late due to an injury setback. A condition which saw him sit-out of the Super Eagles training tour in Dubai earlier this year before the AFCON tournament.
Some supporters of the Super Eagles had anticipated that Iheanacho would break into the first team squad upon his full return from injury. But reverse was the case, as the former Manchester City forward has not made any appearance at the current 34th edition.
Speculation spread last week after Nigeria’s victory over Guinea-Bissau and their progression to the knockout stages, that Iheanacho isn’t happy with coach José Peseiro.
However, Peseiro has come out publicly to debunk there’s a rift between him and his subject.
Peseiro provides reason Iheanacho is yet to feature at the AFCON
According to the former Sporting CP coach, the speculations were all false, and are propagated by mischief-makers who wants to destabilise his team.
“There are a lot of negative stories out there. If there was something between us, Kelechi will not be here. I will not invite him,” Peseiro told a pre-match press conference.
“He was injured before the competition and was not with us in Abu Dhabi. He arrived before our first game and started work the following day.
“We have to work with our doctors on his recovery process. We believe in Kelechi, he is going to play and score for us in this competition.”
Speaking further, the former Venezuela national team coach revealed there’s a reason Iheanacho is yet to get a chance at the AFCON.
“You know Kelechi just recovered from injury, there is a reason why he is not playing. I am the coach and you can’t understand. I believe in Iheanacho and he will play in the tournament,” he said.
In a related story, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu promises to visit the Super Eagles team in Ivory Coast.
The President who spoke to the team through Minister for Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, promised to visit when the time is ripe.
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“The president will come. I can assure you the president will come. He has told me when he wants to come and my prayer is that gradually we are going to get to the point where the President can come. He will come. I will bring the president, he will come,” Enoh told the boys during a zoom meeting last Wednesday.
