Football

Super Eagles Are Not The Problem

/ Adeola / 8 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

Many Nigerians like to reap from where they have not sown. Most often we forget the genesis of our national dilemma. The performance of the Super Eagles in South Africa is neither a shock nor a disappointment to a few of us.

The road to South Africa was rough and untidy. Many of us thought that Tunisia will qualify but on the last day of the qualifiers, Nigeria pulled the last string against Kenya while Mozambique defeated Tunisia.

The manner of our qualification reminded us of the mismanagement and lack of expertise in the Nigerian Football Federation. The last time we developed soccer from the grassroots’ level was probably when Westerhof was in charge.

We blame the Super Eagles because, quite correctly, they are professionals and they are paid to do the job of playing good football. Moreso, they are expected to play with their hearts like the North Koreans for example.

We must ask ourselves many questions.

What are the roles of the Ministry of Youth and Sports when it comes to development of Nigerian football?

What are the roles of the Nigerian Football Federation in discovering talented and gifted footballers especially after we have produced the likes of Okocha, Keshi, Oliseh, Finidi, Amokachi, Giant Uche, Siasia, Amuneka and Yekini among many other global names?

In general what are the national policy regarding the development of sports in Nigeria?

These are some of the questions; there are hundreds of other questions begging for answers.

We live at a time when we expect miraculous rewards from something we didn’t plan for. In football this will never happen because many nations take sports and football especially too seriously that those who failed to plan invariably planned to fail.

The year 1996 was an exceptional year for Nigerian football. We won the Olympics gold medal despite the fact that the preparation was, as usual, messy. We cannot always depend on luck or fire-brigade approach to accomplish success.

We should never crucify the super eagles. As a nation we have refused to gather all our positive energy towards effecting appropriate changes in the management of our national affairs.

The composition of the Super Eagles today, as I see it, is definitely not the best selection of Nigerian footballers. But if I am wrong, then Nigerian football is almost dead. It means either we have no new talents or we have failed to discover them.

In Nigeria today, the focus of several football fans is either on the English Premiership or La Liga. Some others fancy Serie A while others are focused on Euro Sports-2 for the Bundesliga. What is the Nigerian Football Federation doing regarding the promotion of the game in Nigeria?

Every weekend, you see representatives of NFF putting on jerseys to show their love and support for Arsenal, Man U and Chelsea. Even state governors and commissioners are not left out. We celebrate English Soccer and Nigerians have become die-hard followers of the game as played in Europe.

As this national madness progresses, Nigerian football continue to suffer both in the divisive boardrooms and on the patchy pitches. Yet we expect a miracle from South Africa in 2010. We forgot that Nigerian football reached its peak in 1994 and that we have gone to sleep ever since.

What we should have been doing since 1994 was to create a breeding ground for the replacements of all the Superstars mentioned above. We didn’t. We allowed our politicians to run our football. We don’t demonstrate against bad decisions. We don’t react to negative policies. We don’t identify with global growth of sports. We leave many things undone because in Nigeria we allow many abnormalities and yet expect positive outcomes.

It is the same mentality in other facets of our lives. We call it the Nigerian factor. We just allow things to pass without making positive amendments or appropriate corrections. We leave the holistic approach and chase subsets that cannot stand independently. Our sports or football in this case is the reflection of our collective failures as a nation. What is the difference between the performance of the Super Eagles and the fact that the standard of education of Nigeria has dropped consistently over the decades?

To get things right in our football, we have to get it right in the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development. To get it right in the Super Eagles, we really have to get it right in the NFF. To get it right in the NFF, we really have to ensure that those who are on board are seasoned sports professionals and sports administrators. Until then, the decline in the standard of our football will continue to take a nose dive.

Regarding the Super Eagles, there are a lot of issues at stake. What are the criteria used for getting players into the national team? I have spoken to at least 2 ex-internationals and their responses are very heartbreaking. In some circumstances Nigerian politicians, dictators and family members have influenced the selection of players into the national team. There are stories (from the past) of bribing of coaches to get players selected into the team.

What about the question of age? We blame the Eagles for being slow, tired and uninspired. But how did they make the team in the first place? Did they invite themselves to the team? We must begin to look closely at the ages of our players and stop inviting them to the senior national team when we realise that they cannot run or keep up with the pace at that level. While their active sojourn in national team last, we should respect them while expecting the best from them.

The coach, Nigerian or foreign, must be able to ascertain the level of the fitness of his team all the time. An unfit or uncommitted player has no business in the team because that is minus one already. It is also pertinent that the NFF does not interfere with the coach’s process of invitation and selection of players for the national team.

Obviously I cannot explain all that I have on my mind. For example what plans do we have for the Super Eagles player when they play hard and injure themselves while playing for Nigeria? What does the insurance policy say? Nigerian sports journalists owe us this obligation of explaining more and becoming more objective in their analyses of sports. If we want progress in our sports/ football, the brown-envelope syndrome must be abolished in the reporting of sports. That syndrome has destroyed enough of the Nigerian life.

Some Nigerians are expecting a miracle on Tuesday the 22nd of June while others have given up. Football is not a one day affair; our focus should be on the long-term implications of our outings in the Nations Cup played in Angola and the current World Cup in South Africa. If we have good memories we shouldn’t have forgotten Ghana 2008 so easily. We could have planned for today. But we didn’t.

With careful analyses of how we got to this point of disgrace in our football, we might be able to retrace our steps probably to Tunisia ’94 and make amends so that we can prepare better for the future.

Invariably, as Nigeria approaches 50th year as a nation, there are several things we need to put right. The status quo is a disaster for Africa and an embarrassment to the black race. We need a change we can believe in.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Nigerian delegates flocking to Super Eagles Training Camp

/ Adeola / 2 Comments

Adeola A

Nigerians will never fail to amuse you.

The team is hanging on a balance after dropping all 3 point to Argentina in its first match.

A coach was hired and he’s been paid millions of naira every month. He has a job to do and his job is tough.

But you see Nigerian delegates in South Africa at the Eagles training camp and you see a very rowdy pre-training and training session. Everybody has an idea and they don’t stop giving their suggestions on the pages of newspapers or through useless interviews in Nigeria and South Africa-they go ahead to invade the training sessions.

What do they want? I am sure some of them are posing for photographs with the players. Some of them are looking for handshake and other sorts of useless acknowledgement from the players and coach.

You don’t have to go to the training field to show your support for the Eagles. Get a Green-White-Green jersey and buy a vuvuzela to join the noise-making crowd.

Who are these delegates? What is their mission? Don’t they have any important assignment to do back in Nigeria?

There are serious problems with the Eagles. Add the problems of the delegates and what you get is a team that is on its way out on thurday evening.

Hopefully the delegate will stay behind to play the 3rd meaningless game IF that is what they want.

Give the Eagles a break and let them concentrate on the match with Greece. Too many cooks nko?

My take is simple, the better and more prepared team should always make progress while the unserious ones should pack their bags and go home.

Nigeria’s Rulers Relocate to South Africa.

/ Adeola / 6 Comments

By Adeola

Nigeria never ceases to sturn the world in many ways.

Mr. Goodluck Jonathan is in South Africa. He is there with 6 governors and some aides. President Jonathan was accompanied by the Governors of Ogun, Kwara, Borno, Rivers, Edo and Delta; the Ministers of Information, Foreign Affairs, Women Affairs and Sports, as well as Presidential aides.

There are reports that more than 60 Nigerian Senators are also in South Africa.

This country is a nation of clowns.

What are all these morons doing in South Africa when Nigeria is in dire need of sound leadership and serious revamping?

South Africa is hosting the Football World Cup because they prepared their nation for it. What are we preparing our country, Nigeria, for?

From the South, to the North, from the East to the West, there are issues begging for solutions and attentions and more than half of the rulers and conquerors of Nigeria are on jamboree to something that doesn’t concern them.

These wicked people remain selfish and evil. What are they doing in South Africa? Is Jonathan going to strike in the next game? Are the state governors going to play the third match against South Korea? What the h*** are they stupidly doing in SA?

Indiscipline of the highest order! You will never find in the whole world or in the history of mankind a group of people who are so thoughtless and aimless!

Nigeria is begging for attention and a way forward in every aspect of our lives including sports and football.

I don’t think these people gallivanting around know the seriousness of the nature of our national problems. Not to think of the millions of dollars that is now wasted on these unnecessary trips. The cost of these trips will be enough to change millions of lives in Nigeria. It will be enough to construct some roads and build modern schools in some communities.

Nigerian rulers are selfish, wicked and heartless and someone somewhere should order them to return to Nigeria with immediate effect. They should not draw up the money from these trips from national treasury.

But who will ensure or enforce these disciplinary measures when Jonathan himself chose this time to travel to SA? Nigeria, oh my beloved country..! what a wasting nation!

Nigeria, where is your glory?

Lagerbäck Drops Nigeria’s Highest Goal Scorer

/ Adeola / 3 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

Ikechukwu Uche will not be in South Africa. I doubt if this boy will ever play for Nigeria again.

He could not have been dropped for his injury since Mikel Obi is also just back from Injury lay off period.

Well, it could have been that he was not impressive in training. Or maybe the coach didn’t want to give 2 slots to the same family, since Kalu his brother is in the team.

Some people feared that the team was selected by Nigerian government officials. From past experience/ occurence, this may also be the case. You never know.

Depending on what happens in South Africa the truth will eventually unfold-if it was Lagerbäck’s team or a team packaged for him by NFF under the influence of this-and-that Minister or Governor. Actually it is not a rumour that government officials have or used to have slots in the National team. A former member of the super Eagles told me that just 2 days ago.

Well, I wish Uche a wonderful career ahead of him. If I was the coach to be candid I would take Uche to the World Cup and leave behind one of the tired legs. The man who scored the highest numbers of goals to take us to the world cup (unless the team doctors rule him not fit) deserve to be rewarded with a slot in the World Cup.

Life does not always bring what we wished or hoped for. Uche will have to learn to leave this sadness and disappointment behind. He should support his brother and wish the team well.

I HOPE THAT he will bounce back and continue to play good football. I hope that he will achieve more greatness in his international career. If he decides to play for Nigeria again in the future, he must show the coach and Nigerians that we made a big mistake to have dropped him in this crucial tournament.