Super Eagles coach, Eric Chelle has revealed that people questioned him for including midfielder Alex Young Oyowah in Nigeria’s squad for 2024 African Nations Championship, CHAN.

Chelle spoke after Nigeria defeated Congo 2-0 in their final Group D clash on Tuesday.

Recall that Oyowah was named Man of the Match as two goals from Anas Yusuf and Sikiru Alimi ensured the Super Eagles B team defeated Congo.

Speaking at his post-match interview, Chelle said via CAF’s official website: “The preparations for a CHAN tournament should start a year in advance.

“For example, the player who won the Man of the Match award against Congo, Alex, I put him on our list for the tournament a week before we left, and everyone said, ‘Why did you call him up when he’s not known?’

“We were not ready to participate in this tournament. Whoever attends our training sessions will notice that our players were not mentally prepared to participate in this version of the tournament.”

Nigeria crashed out of the tournament after recording only three points from three games in Group D as they finished behind Sudan and Senegal in the table.