Arsenal Manager ,Arsene Wenger Says The Super Eagles Have Potentials Of Becoming A Major Force In International Football .

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has joined the growing number of Super Eagles admirers declaring that the team could become a major force in international football over the coming years.

A keen follower of Nigerian football who attends Super Eagles games whenever the team plays in England, Mr Wenger said that the team which just won the Nations Cup has all the ingredients needed to build a great side. He added that Nigeria’s victory in South Africa showed that a team could win trophies while playing beautiful football.

Mr Wenger said: “To sum it up best you would say this African Nations Cup is a triumph for West Africa and the downfall of North Africa. Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia all went out in the first round, unusually and Egypt wasn’t there at all.

“Also we saw a big disappointment for Cote d’Ivoire, who was the big favourite to win and the triumph of Nigeria. The day Cote d’Ivoire went out, you would say Nigeria or Ghana would win it.”

A man with an eye for talent, it was Wenger who brought Nigeria's Nwankwo Kanu to England when he signed him for Arsenal in 1999. Mr Wenger said he was happy Nigeria won because it is a country with a  huge football passion that has suffered for so long with disorganised football.

Mr Wenger added: “Their manager, Stephen Keshi, who played in France and I know, did a remarkable job. He brought in some young players, who did really well.

“Obi Mikel was their guide and they played the most attractive football. They played with three strikers and Victor Moses and Emenike did well too.”

Wenger praised Keshi for deploying some home-based players in his games, saying that it would ensure that the foreign-based players would now take the national team seriously. He added that usually, European-based players are given red carpet treatment when they come to play for their African countries at the expense of the local players.

He confessed that  he watched most of the games during the Nations Cup on television, although he sent some scouts to monitor some of the games. Arsenal have traditionally been a team that scouts heavily in Africa and over the years has signed several big names including Kanu, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue, Gervinho, Lauren Etame, Marouane Chamakh and Emmanuel Adebayor.