En Route Maracana

The FIFA confederations cup tournament has come and gone and the Super Eagles got axed from the group stage, no thanks to defeats by South American champions, Uruguay, and World and European champions, Spain. Coincidentally, those two consecutive defeats came after 18 games (some even said 20) unbeaten run (the highest in her history) which dated back to the friendly match defeat to Peru in May, 2012. This tournament has more than ever divided opinion between football fans especially Nigerians in many respects. While some salute the bravery of the Super Eagles even in the defeats, others point to the Super Eagles profligacy in front of goal, which if avoided, would have salvaged the nation some pride.

 

VIDEO: Tahiti vs Nigeria: 1-6 17th June, 2013

For the positives, Nigeria notched up to 42% ball possession, 8 shots on target out of 13 shots, and played the entire duration without a caution (yellow or red card) against the all conquering Spain. Before that, it was about 53% ball possession in favour of Nigeria and more chances created against Uruguay.  Indeed, the Super eagles stood neck and neck with the best in the trade in terms of general play, but result failed to come their way. With the world cup less than a year away, if they qualify, another first round exit would be totally unacceptable by all and sundry. To avoid this, some measures need to be put in place.

Nigeria Football Federations president, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima

The Glass House – The Administrators

It is true that 11 players take to the pitch, but they could appear to be playing against 20 players if the administrators do not play their roles well. The shameful bonus row that made the Super Eagles touch down last at Brazil should never repeat itself. The men in the glass house need to play their role well to relieve the players of off-field concerns which could affect their performances. They need to support the coach by creating an enabling environment for the team to thrive well.

Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi

The Coaching Crew

They have arguable the biggest task at hand because they call the shots. Led by Coach Stephen Keshi, they need to up their ante in terms of man management. Indeed, every coach need full control of their dressing room. Typically, France 1998 world cup winning coach, Aime Jacquet dropped Eric Cantona en route France 98 and more recently, Pep Guardiola pushed out Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto from FC Barcelona. Because this will raise eye brow, its only justification is to success. Unfortunately, Stephen Keshi was not two times lucky (having won the AFCON). When players like Kalu Uche and Victor Anichebe were called to replace the injured Emenike, they declined becaue they had seemingly been abandoned and would not see themselves as emergency replacements.

Even the reliable Emmanuel Emenike, who is the toast of all, complained of abandonment a few months ago at the earlier stage of his injury. The hallmark of a good coach is to build on the strength of his players taking their temperament into consideration. The question is what if the new crop of players finds themselves in the coach’s bad book too; will he go to the world cup with you and me? Of course not!

Also, saying that his striker Emenike would have buried some of the chances against Spain is an indictment on him because he invited the other players.

Super Eagles skipper, Joseph Ikpo Yobo

My Thoughts

Even though Stephen Keshi delivered AFCON 2013 with 17 debutants including six home based players, it is not enough to discard all the experienced players. As a matter of fact, attacking profligacy led to the Super Eagles exit. Going forward, the team lacked fear factor, killer instinct, coordination and quality. With dependable forward, Emmanuel Emenike out injured, the Super Eagles had to rely on goal-shy Brown Ideye (who plays best behind a striker), inexperienced duo of Muhammad Gambo and Michael Babatunde and average Joseph Akpala and Ahmed Musa in the attack. They simply barked without biting. The obvious void in the attacking third of the Super Eagles is in the shape of quality and experience which some of our “rejected players” can better fill.

In the defence are decent but “classless” centre backs (you can bet that Fernando Torres does not know Godfrey Oboabona). While this is not exactly bad, having a backup like the lacklustre Azubuike Egwueke is suicidal. Quite simply, the Super Eagles bench had no competitor or game changer.

What are the options? While Nigerians are not clamouring for the likes of Segun Odegbami and Austin Okocha to be recalled back to the team, as Biola Kazeem said, “we are too quick to discard our old players.” Even though Ike Uche had a poor AFCON 2013 just like Ahmed Musa, that dosen’t make him a bad player, afterall, Lionel Messi has had two bad world cup tournaments. Did you just say Joseph Yobo is too old? Diego Forlan who “bought Nigeria’s return ticket” is older as well as Italy midfield maestro, Andrea Pirlo who played a rigorous 120 minutes against Spain in the semi finals. These two players steered their teams into the third place with Xavi Hernandez marshaling Spain to the final. Being a regular for Fenerbahce, Joseph Yobo would have been a better replacement after injured plagued Kenneth Omeruo rather than having two home based centre backs against the monstrous Spain. The truth is team rebuilding should be a gradual infusion of young players into a team and not a total revolution. Players like Muhammad Gambo, Michael Babatunde, and Joseph Akpala should learn from the bench like Ronaldo Delima did in USA 1994 world cup and Kaka in 2002 world cup. The advantage of team cohesion having freshly won the AFCON was lost to the fielding of strange bed fellows. Ordinarily, it is not a shock that the Super Eagles lost to South American champions, Uruguay and world champion, Spain but given the chances created, the right players would have made a game of it.

In conclusion, the Super Eagles is not a training ground for rookies. Thankfully, the eight home-based players in the Eagles squad are invited to take on Ivory Coast in the African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers. Hopefully, they qualify and get some national team experience under their belt. Also, the big boss needs to manage the ego of the older players. For the administrators, they need to cut down on the excesses on their part. The habit of 50 football administrators accompanying a 25 man squad for a tournament has to stop. They should resolve this bonus melee to keep the team balanced and avoid future embarrassments. With these measures in place, there is no doubt that the Super Eagles can soar high come 2014 in Brazil. 


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