Former Super Eagles’ assistant coach, Joe Erico has added his voiced to growing controversy over the recent appointment of an ex-captain of the side, Joseph Ikpo Yobo as an assistant coach in the current national team’s set-up, with a charged the iconic star to make his new duty post officially by going for a certified license.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, although Erico admitted Yobo paid his dues playing at the highest level for club and country, with a lot of experience gained on the international scene as well, as the ex-goalkeeper insisted that the former captain still needs a coaching certificate for him to formalize his role in the crew and to operate officially in the Eagles’ coaching crew.
He stressed during Mega Sports on Star 101.5 FM, Lagos that working as an assistant coach with the Eagles is a call to duty for the national team, but it goes beyond just experience gained as a player or respect for achievements acquired over the years, because there is a need for him to also be formally recognized in the comity of tacticians.
He went on to point to recent directives from world soccer governing body, FIFA, and their continental affiliate, Confederation of African Football (CAF), which stipulated certain levels and qualifications coaches should get before they can even handle clubs, talk less of national teams.
The ‘Jogobonito Exponent,’ however, conceded that the various aspects of experience Yobo has gained from playing in several European countries with many top teams has given him a rich pedigree of the game, boosted by learning varying ideas under different coaches, all of which can be concretised into a good coaching profession if he can study to get a certificate on the job.
Erico stressed: “A player that has achieved 100 caps playing for the Nigeria’s senior national team, captained Everton FC of England, as the first African to achieve that feat and also played at the AFCON, World Cup and Champions League is not lacking in experience.
“Playing at the highest level has given Yobo the chance to learn from different coaches. Getting his first coaching assignment with the Super Eagles does not matter because anybody can start at any level in coaching. With time, more experience will be added to the ones he already has.
“If he does not have coaching certificate, he can acquire it on the job. I believe the Eagles will do better with Yobo on the bench because most of the Super Eagles players respect him a lot. Yobo needs to get a certificate to make him qualified to be a coach in the Super Eagles. He has to get a coaching license for him to sit on the bench and work with the team.”
