Abuja — As the Golden Eaglets raise the curtain in the defence of the U 17 World Cup title against Germany at the Abuja National Stadium on Saturday, coach John Obuh has come under fire for accepting the national job.

Launching the broadside in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP was Obuh's friend and former playmate Golden Ajeboh

"I was surprised when John Obuh accepted to handle the Eaglets with only a few months to the World Cup.A coach who knows his onions would not have accepted such a huge responsilbility at such a short notice.

Ajeboh, one of the most flamboyant strikers in the late 80s played for the Lagos darling club defunct Stationery Stores of Lagos and the IICC Shooting Stars played alongside Obuh in the Rangers International.

The former striker who now manages players admitted that he had not seen Obuh charges for a long time but he insisted that preparing a team for a major tournament required a longer period that the time Obuh was given.

"The team was initially recruited by Alphonsus Dike and Yisa Sofoluwe. The NFF sacked that technical crew, then hired Henry Nwosu and Ben Iroha also sacked them before handing the team to John Obuh and his crew.

"You will agree with me that the build up has not been encouraging. Obuh has taken a huge risk in accepting the present challenge.

Ajeboh noted that Samson Siasia made the same mistake of accepting a team at the last minute and he paid dearly for it.

"The Flying Eagles failed in Egypt because Coach Samson Siasia took over at the very last minute."

Ajeboh who was invited to the Super Eagles on the eve of the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Senegal explained that there was no substitute to long term plan for a team willing to make an impact in a major tournament.

"For a team to have a rhythm and enjoy the team spirit required to face major challenges, the players and the coach must be together for an appreciable length of time"

On expectations from the Golden Eaglets, Ajeboh said nobody should expect much from the Nigerian youngsters.

"It is not possible for the Eaglets to defend the trophy won by Coach Tella and his boys in South Korea two years ago. The reason for my pessimism is that they have not been together for enough time with their coach to strike the rhythm of champions. Even the coach Obuh knows that he is in a very difficult situation"

For future events, Ajeboh advised the authorities to avoid the fire brigade approach and ensure adequate preparations.

"We have all resources in abundance. We have talents in abundance but what is lacking is proper planning. Once we plan properly we will rule the world in not just football but in all sports", Ajeboh added.