Super Eagles: Chelle hails impressive Uche and Frederick

Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle was full of praise for the duo of Benjamin Frederick and Uche Christantus following their performances in Nigeria’s victory over Jamaica in the Unity Cup final at the Gtech Stadium on Saturday, www.aclsports.com reports.

Frederick, who plays for the Brentford youth team, was initially not called up to the squad, but trained with the team when Ahmed Musa left due to personal reasons, and Uche Christantus’ coming stalled. The former Flying Eagles star, on his debut, caught the attention of many with his performance and received praise from his manager for his display.

“Benjamin Frederick was good,” Chelle said in his post-match press conference.

“He was very calm and composed. Technically, he’s close to perfect — especially when it comes to touching the ball and making strong passes. He reads the game well, but of course, there’s room for improvement. We conceded a goal, and maybe he could have done something differently in that situation. Like I always say about our players — even when they play well — we still need to improve every day.

“My assistant even joked that I should take credit for his performance because I selected him. But really, it’s just one game — a big one — and he needs to keep working hard and improving,” the Malian-born tactician concluded.

On the other hand, Christantus Uche came off the bench in the thrilling Unity Cup final and scored the winning penalty in the shootout, and Chelle spoke about how he deserves to be in the Super Eagles.

“Uche made a great impact coming on the pitch. I’m very happy with his performance. He deserves to be in the Nigerian team. The reality is, this team has a lot of good strikers and wingers. It’s difficult to pick because we have many great players.”

Benjamin Frederick and Uche Christantus, who is also in the squad for the Russia game, will hope to feature more frequently under Chelle following their performances against Jamaica.