Sports

Sunday Mba’s lifestyle affected his career – Daniel Amokachi

Published

4 years ago

July 23, 2020

Former Super Eagles assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi, has blamed an indiscipline lifestyle and a failed transfer move to Bordeaux for Sunday Mba’s short-lived career.

The 30-year-old, who scored the Super Eagles’ winning goal in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations final, was released by Turkish club Yeni Malatyaspor in September 2017 and has not played competitively since then..

Speaking on his programme the ‘Bull’s Pit’ on Brila FM, Amokachi said Mba was a player with immense quality but suffered too many personal issues.

“I spoke with Mba about three weeks ago when Ahmed Musa was in Nigeria. Musa called me and said other guys like Sunday Mba and Emmanuel Emenike were with him and they were reminiscing about their time in the (national team) camp and we all laughed about it,” Amokachi said.

“Mba has been going back and forth. He played in the second division in Turkey, he was playing, but I think his lifestyle didn’t help him a bit and the contract he had in France after the AFCON destabilised him a bit.

“Up till today, we don’t know the true story of what really happened, with the Bordeaux deal, only Mba and those involved can really tell us what happened and why the deal didn’t work out and things just broke away for him.

“But I think he is a quality player and probably age is not on his side but I still think he can give the world a few years of quality football if he really wants to.”

Mba scored three goals in 16 appearances for the three-time African champions.

Amokachi also advised Eagles duo Kenneth Omeruo and Chidozie Awaziem to quit Leganes after the Spanish club were relegated from LaLiga on Sunday.

Omeruo joined Leganes on August 2019 from Chelsea while Awaziem was on loan from FC Porto.

“It’s sad the team was dropped but with the quality of the players and being Super Eagles players, I think they should find a way to move and play football in the top leagues.

“In Turkey, my former team Besiktas are looking for cover and I think Awaziem will fit in very well and Omeruo is being linked with two Premier League teams.

“And with the stamp he has put in Turkey (during Omeruo’s loan at Kasimpasa) I’m sure teams there will come for him, it just depends on where he wants to go,” the 1994 AFCON winner said.