Osaze attacks Lagerback

Nigeria forward Osaze Odemwingie on Tuesday rounded on Coach Lars Lagerback, saying the Swede ‘made mistakes’ and claimed a sense of injustice at not being given enough playing time at the World Cup.

Odemwingie also suggested that he was left out of the final game against Greece because of what he said.

“Three games two losses. I think a few things he did were big mistakes, like telling two strikers not to participate in defending,” Odemwingie told KickOffNigeria.com.
“I think that is a big mistake with Nigerian football when we have one defensive midfielder and one creative midfielder in front of him. All our middle was open and that was the problem we had against Greece.

“In our match against South Korea the instruction was that three people did not have to participate in defence. I think that also was a big mistake,” the Russian based forward added.
Odemwingie was reported to have erupted in the dressing room after the Greece loss, and explained that he had good reason to.
“Yeah I said to him that there are some key players in this team that he didn’t give enough playing time. And I was one of them. I said to him we have been here for a few years and we have qualified this team for the World Cup and he was putting us aside and it’s not fair.

“Some of us like myself and Martins are leaders in this team and we have been making the difference for the country and we needed to get more playing time and more chances to play,” he stressed.

Odemwingie then suggested that his tirade may have been the reason he was left out of against Korea. “It is possible that that’s why he didn’t play me today.”