While I was away...

I have been on a long overdue vacation for the past two weeks.I haven't taken one since 2006, so I decided to do this one right...get away from it all.
Well, I'm back!

I did keep track of all the happenings in the world of football and a lot did happen.Charity they say begins at home(a cliche,I know, but I'm allowed one of those once in a while), so I will start with events in Nigeria.

The Amodu/Siasia debate, like most exercises in futility, has died down at least until the Super Eagles play their next match against Sierra Leone in October.I think it will be resurrected, especially if the Super Eagles do not win the match in convincing fashion(by this I mean by scoring more than two goals).

Meanwhile coach Amodu has released the squad for next month's match.The only surprise being that Seyi Olofinjana was left out,given that he has being ever present for his club Stoke City in the EPL.He lost his place to Sani Kaita who was excellent in China.There were also recalls for five other dream team members, while not surprisingly given his current form John Utaka was left out, along with Obinna Nwaneri and Haruna Lukman who have featured in all of Amodu's squad since his return in April.

The national U-17 team,rather to the dismay of whole nation, lost to Benin 3-2 on aggregate to crash out of the African Championships.This has set the alarm bells ringing and there have calls for the coach Alphonsus Dike to be sacked.

To be honest,I think too much is being read into the issue.At the U-17 level, the focus should be on developing players,helping them to improve their technical skills as well improving their tactical approach to the game. Also it is at this stage that they learn the football culture,mentality and style traditional to Nigerian football teams.If they happen to win a silverware along the line, then good, otherwise it should make no difference.

In fact it is in failure that people learn how to win.Four members of the Olympic team-Vanzekin, Isaac, Ogbuke and Solomon Okoronkwo, were also in the U-17 team that went to the 2003 world championships in Finland.The team also included Mikel,Kola Anudi,Emmanuel Sarki and Ezekiel Bala who were part of the Dream Team at some stage during the qualifiers or final stages of preparations for the Olympics. It was the first team from Nigeria that failed to go beyond the group stages at the U-17 level. They were considered a failure, but they since proved otherwise.

I believe in second chances and I think we might be better served in the future if the NFF allowed Mr Dike to complete the job. I believe he would have learned that Nigerians demand nothing but the ultimate prize.Thankfully he has years of experience from managing teams in the football league.

Talking about the league...it kicked off this month...with the return of Warri Wolves to top flight football.They held Gateway of Abeokuta to 1-1 draw in the first match of the season. FA cup finalists in 1969, they have been in coma until the government of Delta State bought former NPA of Warri/Lagos(the Marines? first FA cup winners) and renamed it Warri Wolves.It's a shame we do not actually pay attention these details of our football history, these could be selling points for our clubs.Well that's a topic for another day.

Newly promoted Kaduna United and Enugu Rangers are the early pace setters, both have a 100% record after three rounds of matches.Defending champions Kano Pilars have just one win and are currently in 12th position.Niger Tonadoes,JUTH and Akwa United are yet to earn any points and they prop-up the league.

So far we have seen signs that another exciting season is on the cards, with a few surprise results recorded so far.Heartland FC were held by new boys FC Abuja at Owerri on the first day of the season.They in turn lost at home to Sunshine of Akure 3-1 in the following round of matches.Enugu Rangers and Kaduna also recorded away wins, at Akwa United Niger Tonadoes respectively.

Enyimba are yet to play any league match this season due to their involvement in Africa were they have qualified for semi-final of the CAF champions league.I am looking forward to an exciting season and will like to commend the NFL for a great job done so far.There is more to be done, especially in relation to facilities,curbing match fixing and other corrupt practices in the league.They will also do well to encourage owners to restore some of the more traditional clubs like Stationary Stores of Lagos and Calabar Rovers while we hope Bendel Insurance returns to the top flight as soon as possible. These clubs with their rich history could be key to selling the league.

This leads me to the next major occurrence of the past weeks, the news that a Nigeria consortium is planing to buy Newcastle United.I must say that the only reason why I'm commenting this is the fact that I think that Nigerian football will be better served if they bought one the clubs mentioned above that need a huge injection of cash to come to back to life and transform them into a top club.

While the money is theirs to spend in the manner they deem fit, I do hope they realize what they're buying.The baggage that comes with buying an EPL club is enormous in terms of debt,operational costs etc. If you add the extra baggage peculiar to Newcastle United, you will understand were I'm coming from.

Finally, the UEFA champions league group phase kicked off with only three of the seven Nigerians registered for the UCL playing for their various cubs involved.

Taye Taiwo and Mikel both played the full ninety minutes for as Marseilles lost to Liverpool and Chelsea beat Bordeaux.Dynamo Kyiv's Yusuf Ayinla could not prevent Arsenal from snatching a late equalizer in their 1-1 draw in Kiev,but Emmanuel Okuduwa was out injured. Stefano Okaka Chuka-who was born in Italy,but is eligible to play for Nigeria through his parents-was on bench as Roma lost to Romanian minors CFR Cluj.FC Steaua Bucureşti's Ifeanyi Emeghara was not involved in his club 1-0 loss to FC Bayern Munich. Inter won 2-0 away at Panathinaikos, but youngster Joel Chukwuma Obi not invloved,Victor Nsofor and Rabiu Ibrahim were not registered for Inter and Sporting Lisbon respectively.

Do you know that? Finidi George and Kanu were the first(and so far only) Nigerians to win the UEFA champions league.They achieved this feat when they helped Ajax win in 1995.Since then Jon Obi Mikel is the only player to have gone close to wining it when his club Chelsea lost to Man Utd in the 2008 final in Moscow.Kanu and Finidi also came close again in 1996 when Ajax lost to Juventus in Rome.
Karibe Ojigwe's club Bayer Leverkusen lost to Real Madrid in 2002, but he was not in the squad for the final.
Daniel Amokachi was the first Nigerian to play in the UCL.He played for Club Brugges in 1992/93 season the the first time the league format was adopted.

The Folly,before disaster

To say that Nigerians are an excitable people my be the understatement of the century,more so when it comes to football. This is the major reason why we have current Amodu vs Siasia debate.

After leading the Olympic Eagles to a silver medal finish at Beijing, a lot of people have called for Siasia to take over as the Super Eagles' coach, or as most people put it, to be "drafted" to the Super Eagles and more ridiculously, for for the Olympic team to replace the current Super Eagles team.

As the debate rages on,some people have come up with a compromise,which to have them form a joint coaching team.This was first suggested by former Eagles' winger Segun Odegbami in his column for sports journal Complete sports. This suggestion has also being picked up former coach Paul Hamilton.

In the present age of video games(football manager,premier league manager etc) and fantasy league, we all have day dreams and fantasies of what the national team set up should look like.Sometimes we convince ourselves that these concoction can become realities and if we are in a position to influence things, we can take steps to making it so.

There is no doubting Odegbami and Hamilton's credibility and achievements in football, but with all due respect, I think the suggestion is rubbish.It is nothing but a theory, that can only work on paper.

There are loads of reason's why this will not work. First, the personality of the people involved are too similar. In spite of his "nice guy" demeanor and his apparent willingness to bend to authorities, Shuabu Amodu, like Samson Siasia has a very strong personality who likes to be on top of things.The only difference is that Amodu being older and more experienced in dealing with the NFF has devised subtle ways of getting things done.

He can also be temperamental, just like Siasia showed with his criticism of the Olympic team even after the beat the USA in their last group game in China.It was him who famously(or infamously, depending on how you see it) ,suggested that we employ a foreigner as sports minister when the then minister suggested we hire a foreign coach to replace him.

Again both coaches have different ideas as to how to approach the game.While Siasia is more cautious and likes to have players play exactly to his instructions, while Amodu gives free reign to his players to improvise.

Ultimately the success of Olympic team was due to it a solid defence helped by Siasia deploying two holding midfielders, while Amodu so far has played with one holding midfielder, thus giving the team a more attacking outlook.

Historically, joint management have never been a success.The most famous of these was the appointment of Roy Evans and Gerrard Houllier at Liverpool in the 1998-99 season.
The partnership ended in disaster with Evans resigning a mere four months into their tenure.

Finally, Mr Siasia has stated in several interviews that he has no intention of working under(or with) Mr Amodu. Ultimately if the NFF acts upon these suggestions ,by "well meaning" Nigerians and Siasia declines, there is a chance he will be labeled unpatriotic.Thereby undoing all the good work he has done in the eyes of feeble Nigerian fans.

I do hope the NFF is not so naive as to fall for these follies, as it can only lead to disaster for Nigeria on the road to South Africa 2010. Amodu has done well,in fact better than most expected.It will only be logical to allow him to do his job and if he along the line he decides that Mr Siasia's services will be useful towards acheieving his goals, then he can request for them. It's no use use flogging a dead horse.

Short and simple!

Fear of the unknown

In the light of Super Eagles' 1-0 win over South Africa at the weekend in what was considered a poor team performance,most commentators have expressed doubt on the ability of the Eagles to beat stronger teams in the next round of the World/Nations cup qualifiers.

According to FIFA, Nigeria is currently ranked 5th,below Cameroun,Ghana,Egypt and the Ivory Coast. Morocco, Guinea,Tunisia,Senegal and Mali make up the top ten in the African ranking.

These presumably, are teams that pundits have in mind in their arguments.But the truth is there is very little chance of the Eagles meeting the teams in the top five of the current FIFA ranking. According to the criteria set out by CAF for seeding teams in the 3rd round of the World/Nations cup qualifiers,the likely top seeds for the second group phase are Cameroun (51points), Egypt (48 points), Nigeria (48 points),Ghana(45 points) and Ivory Coast (41 points).

This calculation is based on the assumption that these teams will win their final matches in this stage of qualifying and maintain their current FIFA rankings (both of which are attainable).Only Tunisia and Morocco have a good chance of overtaking any of these teams in the FIFA ranking,but they can still fall short due to their poor performances in Ghana 2008.

In the final analysis, the fact that Nigeria will likely avoid the afore mentioned teams does not mean that they cannot end up in group of death.In fact Nigeria could still end in group that contains Tunisia,Senegal and Rwanda, while the there is a chance they might end up in a relatively easy group with Guinea(inconsistent),Benin(we have never lost to them in a competitive match) and Cape Vade(never won a match against a top ranking team).

Whoever they end up with,there is no denying the fact that Nigeria will have to be on top of their game if they want qualify for the next FIFA World Cup.

Killing us softly...

After Nigeria were knocked out of the 1998 world at the second round stage by Denmark,Pele was reminded of his prediction made in 1989 that predictions that an African team will win the world by the turn of the last century. Since that was the last World for that century and Nigeria being the last African team standing up to that point, he was asked to defend his predictions.

While Pele, like FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been known to make comments that are off the mark,which most no longer take too seriously, he made a valid one in the same interview. He said the reason his prediction failed was that African leagues are not strong.While it's a known fact,it is one nobody seems to want to do anything about.

With the availability of the English Premier League to viewers in Africa,it has become even more difficult to remedy the situation.These facts are well documented and I will not want to bore you by repeating them.

But I will talk about it's effects on the national team.Apart from the obvious drain of talents, there has been marked change in the style of play of the national team since the team's key players moved to England.

The English game is built on speed and physical play,with very little technique. The players are not allowed to express themselves as tackles fly in as soon you get the ball.And so in order not get caught on possession you release the ball as soon as you get it.

In international football, you have very little time prepare for matches and get used to your teammates.So teams slow games down in order not make mistakes with their their passing.The Spanish are masters at this with Xavi at the center of things.They are also always quick to spot runs by the forwards and provide those killer through passes.In Argentina, Juan Roman Requilme does the same for them.

In the past, Nigeria relied on Jay Jay Okocha to play this role, but of the current bunch Mikel seems to be man most suited for job.But you will agree with me that Mikel has not hit high notes of his performances at the WYC in 2005 as well at the ANC in Jan 2006.The same can be said of Seyi Olofinjana since move to Wolves and subsequently Stole City.

At the last nations cup the Ivory Coast midfield completely dominated a Nigeria midfield comprising the above mentioned players and Kanu who is also based in England.

Essentially, the English game does not suit the Nigerian style, were we rely on patient build ups in the middle and quick release of the wingers.And as the Olympic team showed last month, that style is still very effective.I will mention here that none of the midfielders used in China were based in England at the time.

So what is the solution? We need to make our league stronger and more attractive so that players are not tempted to leave after just one good season.In some cases players completely bypass the league and move to Europe as teenagers.

By playing up to three or four seasons in the NPL, players get used to the "Nigerian system" and it will not be easy for them to forget.Another solution is to set up a national football center, where the Nigerian football philosophy is taught to young players while they play for the national youth teams.In this way no matter what they learn later in life, they will know that once they pull on the Nigerian green they are expected to play a certian way.


Do you know?

That while Enugu Rangers have not won the FA cup since 1983 or the league since 1984, they are Nigeria most successful club domestically.They have won the league 6 times, more than any other club including back to back titles twice in 1974 and '75 and again in 1981 and '82.
They have also won the FA cup 5 times, as well as the doing double in 1974,1975 and 1981.

Bend it Like Beckham...win like the Germans.

It was ex-England captain, Gary Lineker who once said,"Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win".
He made this comment after West Germany beat England to advance to the final of the 1990 world cup,in a match the English played so well and should have won.

I will beg to add Italy,Argentina and in Africa Cameroun to that group of teams that find a way to win matches after playing poorly.Has Nigeria joined this group after beating South Africa in the latest round of the world and nations cup qualifiers without really playing well?

This is the third time , in these qualifiers, they have won a game after being second best to the opposition all match. In the previous rounds they found ways to dispatch Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea away from home after playing below par ,with Joseph Yobo supplying the goals on both occassions. This time it was Ike Uche who scored as Nigeria ran away 1-0 winners in Port Elizabeth.

Nigeria's Christian Obodo(R) and South Africa's Teko Modise vie for the ball.

Historically it is out character for the Super Eagles to win matches they had no business winning.We've often heard fans make comments to the effect of "...Nigeria played,while Ghana won...",emphasising the fact that Nigeria dominated their opponents. Notable examples include losing to Ghana 2-1 in the semi-final of the 1992 Nations cup and to Cameroun in the final eight years later on penalties after dominating most of the match on both occassions.

Playing without Kanu,Yobo,Mikel and Martins, who were out injured, as well as Nsofor,Anichebe and Odemwingie, who were left out after their the exertions at the Olympics, Nigeria were awful. Their midfield was completely played off park by the South African par of Siphiwe Tshabalala and Siyabonga Nkosi.It took a combination of dogged defending by the back four led by Danny Shittu,herioc goal keeping by Dele Aiyenugba and woeful finishing to keep the Bafana Bafana out.In the end, South Africa had 16 shots to Nigeria's 4, with two of those being on target.But it was the Eagles who came away with all three points as Ike Uche made use of one of the two chances he had in the game to score the decisive goal,after running on to a Taye Taiwo pass.


“Football matches aren’t decided on ball possession. South Africa were expected to come at us with home advantage and the fans behind them, but we were resolute,” said Nigeria coach Shaibu Amodu.

"They created a lot of chances but we came to win and so I'm delighted. Winning becomes a habit and that is what I want to instill in my players."

Is this the new attitude in the Super Eagles? Has the coach Amodu finally instilled a winning mentality in the team? Do the Eagles now have the ability,like true champions to scrape results from very difficult matches? Or were the opposition in this group simply too weak for them?

These questions will surely be answered in the next round of World cup and Nations cup qualifies where they are bound to meet tougher teams.Especially as fans and commentators who are used to having the Eagles win with style, while scoring loads of goals, are yet to be convinced.

While he knows he there is still a lot of work to be done on the team,coach Amodu will no doubt be happy with the team's results so far,five wins from five matches,seven goals scored and none conceded.

With results like these, who needs style?


Do you Know?

Spare a thought for the South Africans. Do you know that Bafana Bafana won the African cup Nations in 1996,finished runners-up in 1998,got to the semi-final and quarter-final in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Ever since they failed to go beyond the group stages and now they are on the verge of not qualifying!
An alarming fall from grace for team once considered a power house of African football.

The Olympics... a postmortem

The Olympic Games football tournament, like all age group tournaments organized by or in conjunction with FIFA has given us a chance to measure the health of our football. By all indications it's healthy!



Looking to add Olympic gold to the U-17 world cup won last year, Nigeria once again showed that there are talents abound in the country...not just playing talent, but coaching talent as well.



For me the biggest positive from the Olympics football tournament is the emergence of Samson Siasia as potential world class coach.Never before have I seen a Nigerian play with so much discipline and tactical guile .For the first time in Nigeria's football history, we have a team that combined all the positive attributes of Nigerian football, skill, strength, speed, attacking through both wings and excellent technical ability, while adding a high level tactical discipline never before seen in an African team. In the process they cut out some of the ills of Nigerian football.



Apart from the two times when the goalkeeper lost concentration and conceded silly errors in the games against Japan and the USA and in the final when the midfield failed to deal with Messi in the lead up to Argentina's goal, the team was excellent. As work in progress, the team is not yet vintage, but like the best French wine, it will get better with age (2014 perhaps?).



Unlike the 1996 team that won gold in Atlanta, this team did not have any stars(Olubayo plays in the Israeli 2nd division, while Efe Ambrose plays in the 2nd tier of the Nigerian league).In fact there was only one star in team, the coach Samson Siasia.



The best managers of the game are known for their ability to get the best out of the players they have...their man management skills and also for their ability to see hidden talents and of course their high tactical awareness among other skills.Siasia seemed to master both and much more!



A colleague in the office (who is not Nigerian, if I may add) pointed out after the semi-final that the team played for Mr. Siasia, the fact they always ran across to him after scoring each goal in the tournament showed that fact. This was in spite of the fact the he criticized them for a poor performance against the USA in the last group game. This shows a man management ability some of the best exponents like Luis Filipe Scolari and Jose Mourinho will be proud of.



His use of players was exemplary. His ability to successfully convert Solomon Okoronkwo, who is a center forward by trade ,to a right winger is straight from Arsene Wenger's book of tricks.



Tactically he set up the team uniquely to deal with each opponent. Their formation was not set on stone especially going forward while each player adapted well to their given role for each match. Chinedu Obasi for example, a forward by trade, was given a free role behind Osaze Odemwingie in the quarter final, while Osaze took over that role in the semi final with Obinna nsofor pushing up further than his always done in previous matches, to set up a rather unique system that can be described as 4-2-4 or 4-3-3 when they have the ball and converts to a 4-2-3-1 when they lose it. His substitution in the semi-final against Belgium bringing in Ekpo for Ajilore, was the main reason why the team scored four goals instead of just one.



Perhaps the one mistake he made in was starting with Isaac Promise in the final. Promise had a rather disappointing tournament and in the final failed to bridge that gap between attack and midfield effectively.
This meant Femi Ajilore had to go forward quite a lot. Maybe be the team could have played dealt with Argentina better if he had started with Emma Ekpo in a 4-2-3-1.This way Ajilore would have stayed back more to keep a closer eye on Messi. Kaita did the same on Requielme, even though it did little to nullify his overall influence, it stopped him from been a major treat going forward for Argentina. Again Ekpo plays in the MLS in the USA were games sometimes are played in mid-afternoon in the summer heat. I believe he would have adapted to the conditions better than most of his team mates.



In summary, it was great tournament for Nigeria and just like the win in the U-17 World last year in South Korea showed, the future of Nigeria football is very bright.