Tomorrow's friendly threatened by bitter confrontation between Oliseh and Enyeama

NIGERIA'S preparations for its friendly match against the Democratic of Congo in Antwerp tomorrow suffered a minor setback yesterday when head coach Sunday Oliseh and team captain Vincent Enyeama were involved in a confrontation.

 

Tomorrow, the Eagles face the Congolese Leopards in the Belgian port city of Antwerp and then face Cameroon's Indomitable Lions in Brussels in Sunday. At training yesterday, however, Oliseh and Enyeama fell out as the coach was not happy with the skipper arriving late to camp and the situation boiled over into a major fracas.

 

Unhappy with what he saw as Enyeama's indiscipline, Oliseh decided to strip him of the captaincy and hand the armband to Ahmed Musa for tomorrow's game. This was said to have infuriated Enyeama, who then decided to leave the camp but it appears that Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) officials present calmed the situation down.

 

Enyeama recently buried his mother in Uyo and it appears that his lateness in reporting to camp had something to do with this. According to eyewitness accounts, however, Oliseh was not prepared to listen to explanations or excuses and informed Enyeama that he was no longer team captain and as such he should now share a room with another player.

 

Of late, Enyeama has had several altercations with the NFF as in June he tore up a query issued to him by after he complained about the safety of Kaduna, which was used to host an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Chad. Later the matter was resolved amicably after certain NFF board members had suggested that Enyeama be banned from the team and removed as captain.

 

Last month, Enyeama, Nigeria's most capped player ever, missed the Nations Cup qualifier away to Tanzania and a friendly against Niger Reopublic, after he was granted leave following the death of his mother. Yesterday, however, he appeared to be in the thick of it again and several senior players led by Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi tried to stop Enyeama from quitting the team’s camp in Belgium following the spat with Oliseh.

 

One camp source said: “It was a nasty and ugly scene as Enyeama and Oliseh insulted the life out of each other that at a time it looked like security would have to be called up. There was a little misunderstanding in the camp but the matter has been resolved and Enyeama stays in camp.”

 

It is believed that during the spat, Enyeama boasted that he had more caps for the Eagles than Oliseh. There are now fears that the tow has dampened the high spirit of players in camp and may affect the performance of the team against DR Congo in tomorrow's friendly.