At
full-time in the game against Romania on Saturday, October 9 at the
Parc De Prince, new French coach, Laurent Blanc and his players looked
very relieved to have won 2-0. Les Blues’ revolution under Blanc, who
is referred to as ‘Le Presidente’ had finally started.
Italy, France,
England are some of the football elite that have had to change or tweak
their systems in the past three months on the back of below-par
performances in South Africa. Though Nigeria cannot be grouped with the
above countries – who between them have won six World Cups, Nigeria can
be categorised as an African power.
With two Africa Cup
of Nations Cup trophies, six silver medals and the same number of
bronze medals, the Eagles have always been in or around the podium when
it comes to African football.
But Italy and
France have since moved on from not qualifying for the second round of
the World Cup by appointing new managers in Cesare Prandelli and
Laurent Blanc respectively, while Nigeria is yet to have a substantive
coach, for real planning to change players and systems to start.
In the case of
England, Fabio Capello has given the benefit of the doubt; and he is
using this second chance to bring in new, young and hungrier players
into the squad. But Nigeria is stuck with the same old players, who
have failed to improve their uninspiring performances.
Same old legs, and script
Members of the
football family in Nigeria believe that the Eagles’ last game against
Guinea in Conakry showed the true level of Nigerian football. They
contend that fans have always had an exaggerated image of Nigeria, and
that ‘small’ countries like Guinea are showing that potential is not
enough; planning, hard-work and commitment can and make the difference
between a loss and a win.
Commenting on that match, former national player and now coach of Kwara United, Kadiri Ikhana said:
“Even before this
match was played, I said each of the teams had 50 percent chance of
taking the day. The match itself – looking at the first half, the
Eagles were not so good but in the second half their game improved. We
had more chances of scoring- like 60 to their 40- but we refused to
take them. See how many goals we missed. Guinea on the other hand, took
their only chance and converted it to a goal.”
Many argue that the
outcome of the match was determined by youth, fitness and commitment
and that the Guineans rather than place premium on pedigree were more
concerned with current form. This is believed by many to be the reason
why a youngster like Kevin Constant, who scored the goal against
Nigeria, kept Guinean football greats like Ismael Bangoura and Pascal
Feindouno on the bench.
Not playing to win
“I think we did not
play as we were supposed to. There was not too much fight in the
attack. Only (Obafemi) Martins was moving forward. It was like we were
playing with just two attackers against their four defenders. Obinna
Nsofor is more of an attacker but he was playing in the midfield,” said
former Eagles player, Garba Lawal, who is at a loss about what caused
the lack of commitment.
Some analysts say
these Europe-based players know where their bread is buttered. Their
clubs pay a lot of money to be represented and that cannot be risked on
second rate pitches like the one they played on in Conakry.
“If we take a
mixture of Kano Pillars and Enyimba players they would have represented
us better. What is the makeup of this statement? The players will be
hungrier and more committed to the cause and maybe not necessarily
younger,” said Sola Aiyepeku, a football commentator.
Lawal added that
absence of Osaze Odemwingie, Mikel Obi and Dickson Etuhu in the game
against Guinea is not an excuse for the defeat.
“The likes of Osaze
were not there because they had injuries but even if they were there
the team may not have won. The team is not about anyone person,” he
said. “The way forward for the Eagles is for players to be more
committed. If they play with commitment even if they do not win, we the
people would be able to salute them and say they did their best.”
Officials culpable
Ikhana is not too worried about the loss and he believes the Eagles will qualify for Equatorial Guinea/Gabon 2012 Nations Cup.
“This is a minus
for us but I believe it would gear them up to do better in subsequent
matches. This notwithstanding, I see us qualifying for the Nations’
Cup.”
Former Eagles coach
and defender, Christian Chukwu blamed officials of the team, who are
always afraid of the consequences of a loss.
“The problem we
have is that we are afraid to lose matches, but did we not lose on
Sunday despite inviting 15 Europe-based stars for the match, which
ordinarily the home-based should have formed at least 70 per cent of
the squad?
“If we had paraded
mostly home-based players and we still lost the match, we would have
been happy that at least we are rebuilding our team,” Chukwu said.
“This is the time
to rebuild. This is the time to go in search of talented, young and
desperate home-based players, players who are hungry to prove that they
can play in the Eagles too.
“We are not
rebuilding. We can’t keep using the same players. We are overstretching
them. We need to give the home-based players the chance to prove
themselves. If we don’t play them, we won’t be able to discover new
players for the national team.”
Like Chukwu, many
believe that without a shake-up of the Super Eagles – to allow the
youth, better coaches, and administrators who understand the game plan
take the reigns, football might just end up like some other sports –
where Nigeria reigned supreme on the continent some years ago but is
now playing catch-up.
Michel Platini,
UEFA President said after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa that he
was not surprised at the composition of the first, second and third
placed teams – Spain, Holland and Germany. To Platini, success is not
achieved by coincidence.
“The countries that did well have the most youth competitions and
spend the most on training young players. It is no coincidence they
happened to do well. Investment, competition and training pays off.”
