Daily Independent Online.
*
Monday, July 05, 2004.
Adamu
tackles Obafemi
By Ben Alaiya,
Group
Sports Editor,
Abuja
COJA Executive Director, Dr Amos Adamu was
furious last Saturday when Inter Milan star, Obafemi Martins walked straight to
the dressing room after being replaced in the drab 0-1 World Cup qualifier by Julius Aghahowa.
Adamu, who was watching the game in the
Pamodzi Suite along Daily Independent reporter noted that it was an act of
indiscipline for the player to have walked out on the coach, when he was
replaced.
“He was there to score goals and for
close to 75 minutes he could not accomplish the task, so why should the coach
not replace him. I don’t support the
way he has behaved, and if he is to be a
big star in future, he must stop acting like that.
It was however the consensus of most people
watching the game that Martins was the only purposeful striker on the pitch and
Chukwu was probably afraid of replacing any of the big boys like John Utaka and
Yakubu Aiyegbeni who did not do better than the Inter
Milan star.
“That is why we keep clamouring for a foreign coach
because most of the so called big boys did not play well and if we had drawn or
lost this game, we would be in trouble in the qualifier,” observed Igho
Igumah a House of Representative member who was also at the suite.
