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Nigeria’s World Cup

preparations is no doubt one of the most dramatic episodes as football

fans look forward to a great football experience in South Africa.

From the aspect of

logistics, which includes securing a good camp base for the Super

Eagles at the tournament, to the preparation of the team for the

competition proper, the country’s preparation for the global soccer

showpiece has raised a lot of concerns in the mind of followers of the

game.

Thankfully, new

sports minister, Ibrahim Bio, has finally secured decent accommodation

for our national team, after the furore over the initial choice of

widely criticized Hampshire Hotel, Ballito in Durban, South Africa by

the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF.

Unfamiliar grounds

Since his

appointment in February as the Eagles head coach, Lars Lagerback has

not had the chance to meet his players as a group; and due to poor

planning, the NFF fluffed the chance of facilitating that meeting after

failing to secure a grade A friendly match for the Eagles in the first

week of March, the last FIFA free week before the World Cup.

We could only play

Congo DR, who the Eagles team B battered 5-2 after the opponents

arrived Abuja barely two hours before kick- off.

Lagerback, who felt

Nigeria’s best players might not be the ones who finished with bronze

medal at the African Cup of Nations in Angola in February, is now

facing the dilemma of picking his best 30 players who will make the

provisional list for the tournament by tomorrow.

The Sweden-born

tactician had named a shortlist of 44, including six home-based

players, last month and he will now have to drop 14 of them without

even supervising a single training session let alone a friendly match.

Former team

handler, Shuaibu Amodu, announced a 32-man provisional squad for the

Nations Cup, only to slash the list to the final squad without giving

some of the players the chance to even participate in a training

session.

And football

followers are already drawing a comparison between the two coaches,

saying that nothing seems to have changed in the selection process.

Relying on old hands

Lagerback’s

technical acumen is not in doubt, considering his pedigree but he faces

the challenge of selecting the right mix of players who will get the

job done for him.

It is feared that

Lagerback will have to rely on experience, and some of the players who

could prove to be influential in our World Cup campaign may not even

make the provisional list.

Sadly, a lot of the

Eagles top players including Obafemi Martins, Joseph Yobo, Yakubu

Aiyegbeni and Danny Shittu, who all featured in Angola are no longer

regulars at their respective clubs, so that limits Lagerback’s chances

of assessing their fitness levels.

Peterside Idah, the

Eagles’ media coordinator, last week said that Lagerback already knew

80 percent of his squad and that there would not be any problem in

arriving at his contingent for South Africa.

“Since he took the

job, he has travelled to about 10 countries and watched a lot of the

players,” he said. “He has also looked at the tapes of most of the

games the team have played in the last two years and he has a good idea

of who he wants at the World Cup.”

Poor planning

Despite Idah’s optimism, fears persist that Nigeria may be short-changed by this development.

Former Super Eagles winger, Dimeji Lawal, believes the Lagerback would have some worries concerning his selection.

The NFF has

confirmed friendly marches against Saudi Arabia and Colombia as build

up games to test the team before the final squad is named on June 1,

while North Korea game comes up on June 4; but prior fixed games have

often been cancelled.

“We will have to

wait and see how he will arrive at his list and those who will make it;

it’s not the kind of experience a coach would like to witness when

preparing for a big competition like the World Cup”, says the former

Kortrijk of Belgium star.”

“Everybody will

agree that we have not heard the best of preparation for this World Cup

and it is surprising we are still searching for friendly games when

other teams have almost decided on their final squad. I don’t think

anybody is expecting surprises from the Eagles because we are all aware

how our preparation has gone.

Surely we have to come up with a squad; the only problem is whether

the coach has given enough assessment to select the best for the World

Cup. With few tune up games to see them in competitive situation before

naming the final squad, it would be difficult for him to select the

best,” added Lawal.