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| Image/ Former Nigerian football captain Sunday Oliseh |
Former Nigerian football captain Sunday Oliseh, who now works as a sports podcaster, has revealed a historical grievance that may explain why the current Super Eagles are struggling in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Drawing a stark parallel between past and present, Oliseh suggested that deep-seated issues within the football establishment, including a legendary curse, continue to haunt the team's performance.
During an interview on the Bet9ja podcast with the hosts of The Honest Bunch Podcast, popularly known as Husband Material, Oliseh shared a powerful analogy for the team's current dynamics. He stated, “In life, when you are broke, your best friend is no longer your best friend. Real friends are often those who are on a similar financial level.” Applying this to football, he added, “In team settings, the moment a coach has issues with a top player, his days are frequently numbered. This is because when you attack one key figure, you have often attacked the rest by extension, disrupting the unity.”
This disunity, Oliseh implies, is not new. He then recounted a painful chapter from 2002. After the Super Eagles heroically overturned a five-point deficit to qualify for the World Cup, a dispute over unpaid allowances led to him and other key players being controversially dropped from the final squad. To add insult to injury, the coaching trio of Shuaibu Amodu, Stephen Keshi, and Joe Erico, who masterminded the qualification, was also dismissed.
Oliseh revealed that one of those coaches, the late Joe Erico, was so aggrieved by this betrayal that he laid a solemn curse on Nigerian football. According to Oliseh, Erico “sat down in his room naked and he cursed Nigeria” for what was done to them. For many fans, the current team’s struggles to gel and secure wins feel like a stark parallel of this past turmoil, suggesting that the ghosts of 2002 may still be influencing the Super Eagles' fortunes today.