My wife wept when I was dropped from France'98 squad - Ganiyu Ajide

Reports from home that four out-of-favour players would make
Nigeria's France '98 World Cup squad sparked tensions in the Super
Eagles camp in Holland after Nigeria lost 1-0 to Germany in a
friendly encounter in Cologne, Germany on April 21, 1998.

Ganiyu Ajide, who missed out on a place in the 1996 Olympic Games
squad, had received assurance from his colleagues, who won gold in
the Atlanta Games, that his place in the team was safe and was not
worried about his future in the Eagles.

The Olympic Games gold medalists, who made up the majority of the
squad camping in Holland ahead of France '98, had seized control of
the national team on their arrival in Nigeria from the United States
and were calling the shots.


The group is believed to have resisted the invitation of prominent
members of the USA '94 World Cup squad such as the late Rashidi
Yekini, Ben Iroha, Peter Rufai, Samson Siasia and Augustine Eguavoen,
who were not part of the victorious Atlanta '96 squad, to play in
the France '98 qualifiers.
Eguavoen later got involved in the qualifiers when Frenchman
Philippe Troussier, who took over from coach Shaibu Amodu, bowed to
pressure from the media to invite him along with Siasia.

While Eguavoen starred in the 2-1 defeat of Guinea at the National
Stadium, Lagos, on April 5, 1997, Siasia was not named in the lineup.

But Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic, who took over from Amodu, who
was appointed by the Nigeria Football Federation on a caretaker basis
after Troussier dumped the Eagles after helping Nigeria qualify for
France '98, also promised Ajide a place in his World Cup squad.

With Bora apparently not convinced that Mobi Oparaku was good enough
for the World Cup, as he dumped him (Atlanta '96 gold medallist
Oparaku) for Jero Shakpoke for the 1998 Carlsberg Cup in Hong
Kong, Ajide believed he was close to realising his dream of playing
in the World Cup.


Despite Bora bowing to pressure to include Oparaku in his World Cup
plans, Ajide, who was invited to the team from Julius Berger of
Lagos, had no reason to fear being sent packing as Shakpoke was
not in his best form.

When it was confirmed that Shakpoke would not make the World Cup
following the injury he sustained in the 5-1 defeat by Holland in a
friendly affair at Amsterdam Arena, on June 5, 1998, Ajide received
assurance from Bora that his place was guaranteed, despite coming
under criticism from some sections of the Nigerian media over his
performance in the defeat to Germany.

After it was clear that Yekini, Iroha, Rufai and Eguavoen would be
selected for the tournament, tensions escalated in the team.
Tensions heightened when the team returned home to prepare for the
trip to France.