Today, former Tottenham coach Jose Mourinho has stated that African footballers should stop playing for other countries while admonishing FIFA to review rules behind playing eligibility.
The AS Roma boss believes that doing so will probably allow an African country to one day win the World cup.
The former Chelsea and Manchester United coach believes that Africa possesses quality players and has been quoted as saying, “My success is always based on having African strikers. Without an African striker, I feel like I won’t succeed.”
“I want the world to realise that Africa is equal to everyone. They have the ability to win any game only because most of their players are scattered all over the world playing for other countries beyond their homelands. I know I won’t be popular for making this statement, but FIFA should make things fair by refusing to let players represent other countries, this will make FIFA tournaments even more competitive, not one-sided,” he said
Mourinho has in the past achieved tremendous success with African stars like Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel, among others. At AS Roma, the Portuguese coach has relied heavily on Tammy Abraham, another player of Nigerian descent, to lead his attack.
