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Watching the Super
Eagles against Saudi Arabia last Tuesday was a most distressing
experience. The Eagles were not pretty to look at.

Seeing the players
as they struggled to contain the more mobile and compact Saudi side,
intimations of the Amodu Shuaibu era hit me; an era when the Eagles
were as listless as they were non-committal to the national cause.

Nigerians have not
been amused by the performance particularly after seeing the heroic
display of the Mexican national team in the two friendly matches they
played last week against England and the Netherlands. Even though they
lost both matches, Carlos Vela and his team mates have won over a few
Nigerians, myself included, with their exciting brand of football,
which is easy on the eyes. Already people are looking forward to an
explosive opening match when they face a much improved South African
side at the World Cup on June 11.

Doomsday scenarios

The dismal
performance of the Eagles has many Nigerians scared of what would
happen when they file out against Lionel Messi and his compatriots at
the Ellis Park Stadium on June 12.

Doomsday scenarios are already being spun with many expecting as much as a 5 to 6 nil rout of the Eagles.

Alongside this fear
has been sharp criticism of Lars Lagerback. On many Nigerian websites,
the Eagles coach has been savaged repeatedly with many holding him
responsible for the Eagles deplorable performance.

Such accusation is
not justified and they go beyond the anger of his critics at the sloppy
display of our boys against the Saudis. Many simply have not forgiven
him for taking, as some have put it, “Amodu’s job”. In this state of
mind, they have thrown fair play out the window and have closed their
minds against the Swede. Nothing he does is likely to please them.

The truth, however,
is that given all that we have witnessed in the last few months-the
Nigeria Football Federation’s foot dragging on the appointment of a new
coach after Amodu was fired, the Hampshire hotel saga, which had
Lagerback moving back and forth with first NFF officials and later, the
minister of sports; the NFF’s inability to organise friendly matches
until last Tuesday-made it difficult for Lagerback to get a feel of his
squad.

Expecting him to
meld the squad into a formidable strike force and defence rampart on
his first outing is certainly asking for too much. I dare say that even
the Special One; Jose Mourinho cannot achieve that feat.

No champagne football

Nigeria plays its
second friendly match against Colombia today. The match, if it finally
gets to hold given developments in the last few days, will afford
Lagerback another opportunity to assess his players as the World Cup
draws nearer. Nigerians should not expect our boys to play champagne
football. Anyhow, they will not get it for the simple reason that the
players, eager to impress the new coach and get on the train to South
Africa, will be battle with nerves.

As an experienced
coach, Lagerback knows what to look out for as the thirty players in
camp battle for the 23 places available. In a sense, his late
interaction with the players will work to Nigeria’s advantage. Having
met them late, he has not formed any personal relationships that will
impede his impartial assessment of them. So, it is very likely that the
final 23 players who will make it to the World Cup will be those who
merit places in the squad. That will be a welcome departure from the
practice of the past where cronyism became the benchmark for the
selection of national team players for national assignment.

Somehow, I believe
that Nigeria under Lagerback will not be disgraced in South Africa.
While the Eagles will not meet the NFF’s hare-brained semi-final
target, they will certainly not return home with a bagful of goals.

Nigerians have
every right to expect a massacre of the Eagles in South Africa. After
all, the Eagles despite qualifying for this World Cup were anything but
organised and co-ordinated. But that was a different era. This is a new
dispensation and while the point can be made that it is still largely
the same players that nearly gave Nigerians heart seizure, it is useful
to note that the man handling a squad often makes the difference.

When Capello
inherited the England squad from Steve McClaren, he wasted no time in
imposing his will on the players who had begun to see themselves as
cult heroes. Today, Capello rules. Lagerback can do the same with the
Eagles.