Christian Chukwu Arrives London For Medical Treatment — NFF

Featured Sports May 20, 2019 Dianabasi Effiong

From Dianabasi Effiong Former Nigeria captain Christian Chukwu, in company with his wife Lilian Nkeiruka, has arrived in the United Kingdom for medical...

Christian Chukwu

From Dianabasi Effiong

Former Nigeria captain Christian Chukwu, in company with his wife Lilian Nkeiruka, has arrived in the United Kingdom for medical treatment, according to a statement on Thursday by Ademola Olajire, the Media Aide of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Chukwu, who captained the Senior National Team to win the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 1980, travelled with his wife aboard a Virgin Atlantic Airline flight from Lagos.

President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has arranged for an appointment for the Nigerian legend with a reknown cardiologist in London.

“I am very happy with the efforts of the Nigeria Football Federation through the President, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick. He has proved that he is truly father of Nigerian Football. I am also grateful for the support and prayers of other Nigerians.

“It is waist pain and stomach upset that I keep feeling. The doctors in Nigeria have treated the stomach upset and it remains the waist pain, but I am confident that I will come back to Nigeria having regained sound health,” Chukwu said.

Chukwu and wife were seen off at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos by a Member of the NFF Executive Committee and Chairman of the Nigeria Women Football League, Aisha Falode and protocol officials of the NFF.

At the outbreak of news of the health challenges of the former defender, the NFF had moved immediately to ascertain the nature of his illness and to provide support, with Pinnick delegating the Chairman of Enugu State Football Association and Member of NFF Executive Committee, Chidi Okenwa, to pay Chukwu a visit.

The Federation also sought financial support from philanthropic individuals, with the Chairman of Forte Oil, Femi Otedola, weighing with $50,000.

Christian Chukwu captained the Green Eagles as they won Nigeria’s first –ever Africa Cup of Nations title in 1980, receiving the brand new Unity Cup from then President Shehu Shagari. He also captained the Enugu Rangers FC team that won the Africa Cup Winners’ Cup in 1977.

Nicknamed ‘Chairman’ for the authority he exuded as he marshalled the defence and launched onslaughts on the opposition defence for club and country.

Chukwu also served as assistant coach of the first team to win a FIFA World Cup trophy for Nigeria – the Golden Eaglets that triumphed at the FIFA U16 World Cup in China in 1985.

He was also assistant coach of the team widely known as the Golden Generation – the 1994 Class of Super Eagles that qualified Nigeria for her first FIFA World Cup finals – which won the Africa Cup of Nations title and reached the Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup in America.

Between 2002 and 2005, Chukwu was Head Coach of the Super Eagles, leading the team to win bronze medal at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.

Meanwhile, the Head Coach of the U15 National Team, Future Eagles, Haruna Ilerika, has said that the focus of the NFF and the technical crew of the team is to build a formidable youth football system with the project.

“For any country, football development is the key. The advanced countries have taken youth football development serious for decades and I am happy the NFF has also embraced the youth development.

“We look forward to building the stars of the future from this level, it’s a laudable project and we have started reaping the gains gradually with the progression of some the boys into the recent Golden Eaglets team.

“Kelechi Iheanacho passed through this stage in 2010 and in 2018 he featured at the FIFA World Cup. We have set our target at grooming the boys for a positive transition and progression,” Ilerika said.

The Future Eagles are currently camping in Sagamu, Ogun State ahead of an Eight-Nation U16 Invitational Tournament in Japan next month.

“The camp has been good; the boys are responding positively. The boys understand that the moment they are in camp, they must stay focused. We are here for business. We have been building team chemistry and character and bonding has been great. I’m impressed with the boys’ improvement,” he said.

Ilerika commended the NFF/Zenith Bank U13 and U15 project for the scouting process of raw talents across the country.

“The boys in camp were players discovered from the NFF/Zenith U13 and U15 Future Eagles project, the competition is played from inter-state stage. The states event produced teams for the Zonal stage, while the geo-political zones produce teams for the National event.

“We scouted the boys in the Future Eagles team from this tournament organized by the Federation and their sponsor. Some of these boys featured in the Africa Youth Games in Algeria last year. We also had some of them in Morocco for two friendly matches in 2017.”

The Future Eagles are expected to depart for Japan in two weeks for the invitational tournament scheduled for Sendai.

“We will give the tournament a good fight, we hope to emerge as champions because if the boys start winning at this youth level, the winning mentality will be with the boys as they progress in their career and that will key into their mindset about emerging as champions at the world level.

“The tournament will be interesting for the boys, we’ll be playing against Japan, with big history in Asia, and Romania – a wonderful team from Europe.

“Mexico are coming from the Southern America, the country is known for fast football style of play, our boys will have this opportunity to learn and compete with players from different continents.”

The Future Eagles will play four tune-up games on Thursday and Friday against Remo Stars U15 and Ekofootball Future Stars in home-and-away format.

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