Former Super Eagles forward, Samson Siasia, has revealed the reasons behind his removal from the national team during a stage of his playing career.
It was one of the most difficult moments of the former striker’s football career.
Siasia said that it was simply because he refused to pass the ball to his teammate, Rashidi Yekini that saw him temporarily dropped from the team.
Siasia, who won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations with the Super Eagles, was reflecting on the golden generation of the national team between 1990 and 1998,
Siasia told Emmanuel Babayaro on UTVAfrica that it was normal for him not to pass the ball to Yekini, insisting that the striker failed to utilise earlier chances he had created.
The striker spoke about his on-pitch relationship with the late Rashidi Yekini, Nigeria’s all-time top scorer.
It was during a 1994 World Cup qualifier with Nigeria playing against Ivory Coast at Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan.
Siasia preferred to shoot instead of passing to the better-positioned Yekini.
Then national team boss, Clemens Westerhof saw this as a selfish display and dropped Siasia from his squad.
“I am a striker. Rashidi Yekini won’t give me that ball if it was him, that’s the truth,” he said.
“Sometimes you miss, sometimes you score. Rashidi has been one of the greatest strikers ever I have played with. May his soul rest in peace.
“My downtimes? First was when I didn’t pass the ball to Rashidi Yekini and they had to kick me out of the team and I had to hustle myself back into the team. Trying times are always there to make you stronger.
“A lot of people talked about why I didn’t pass the ball to Rashidi Yekini. The one I passed to him he couldn’t even score too, so things happen, we don’t take it personal.”
