By Admin
Nigeria’s World Cup hope is on the verge of collapsing, and it would take a miracle to salvage it. Having played four games, amassing only three points from a possible twelve, it would have to depend on the outcome of other games in the group, apart from winning its remaining games for it to progress.
Since 1994, when Nigeria took the world by storm by breaking the jinx of not being able to participate in the World Cup, the Green Eagles have not been able to permanently stamp their authority on the round leather game. Clemence Westherhof, the Dutch tactician who masterminded Nigeria’s success, assembled a team that has come to represent the golden era of Nigerian football.
The Green Eagles, captained by Stephen Keshi, had earlier on won the Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Tunisia in 1994 and the male Olympics football team went on to win gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
After producing that masterclass, Nigeria has not been able to replicate the feat and the Green Eagles have had their wings clipped in almost all the major tournaments. Indeed, since winning its third AFCON tittle in 2012, coached by the charismatic Stephen Keshi, Nigeria has wobbled and fumbled at tournaments just as Coach Fanny Amun had propounded.
What have been the reasons for this dip in form? So many reasons can be adduced for our lackluster attitude to Nigerian football. The organizational structure that is supposed to help grow football in the country is completely absent.
The Nigeria Football Federation is run by a cartel that knows next to nothing about the game. Football is seen as a cash cow that should be milked for the enjoyment of the administrators.
In fact, Nigeria legend, Daniel Amokachi, while reacting to the problems of the Super Eagles, has said that changing the coach will not solve the team’s problems. He believes that Nigeria can only get right if the larger structural issues militating against the progress of football in the country are solved.
“Focusing too much on the coaching is like building a house from the roof downwards instead of starting with the right foundation and build upwards,” Amokachi told BBC Sport Africa.
He went on to ask, “Do we have a solid developmental programme for our young footballers, a proper long-term plan for our national teams or develop a football identity for the game in our country? I am a product of the Nigerian league. But have we sorted all the issues around our domestic game, from players’ welfare to the lack of television rights and the chaos around the organisation of local football?”
Just like THE NIGERIA STANDARD, many other former Nigerian footballers share Amokachi’s sentiments. Emeka Ezeugo, a member of the 1994 winning team, took a swipe at stakeholders whose perceived ineptitude has kept Nigerian football prostrate: “The backdoor is left open for anyone willing to cooperate. We have been giving the job to the wrong people, and that is why we have been having the wrong backdoor coaches, players, sports administrators, technical committee members, technical advisers, etc.”
To grow Nigeria’s football, therefore, stakeholders must set a template for the wholistic development of the country’s local league. With the resources available in the country and by putting square pegs in square holes, things will begin to take shape.
We cannot wait on other countries to develop our talents on our behalf and expect them to give us hundred percent attention when called upon to represent the country. Truly, the indiscipline often exhibited by some of these so-called stars stem from their feeling bigger than their coaches.
Also, Nigeria must take advantage of the advances so far made in the sports to develop its own football. This means that football administrators must work assiduously to give football a Nigerian character, as advocated by Amokachi.
If a coach is given an assignment, he must be supported to succeed. Thus, a more favourable environment must be created and global best practices adopted to attract the best to ply their trade in the country. Employing a coach and putting unnecessary roadblocks on the way for him to fail can only be counter-productive.
Now that Finidi George has thrown in the towel as Head Coach, Nigeria’s soccer administrators need to do a deep soul searching to assuage the feelings of citizens of this soccer-loving nation. Missing out on two world cups in a row would not be palatable at all.
Therefore, something drastic must be done to redeem the image of the country by at least winning the remaining six games and hoping that our opponents falter in their games. This will give Nigerians a glimmer of hope.
An editorial of THE NIGERIA STANDARD newspaper, Wednesday, June 19, 2024
