Beauty and the Beast

Every once in while a player or coach comes up with a tactic or style that revolutionizes the game of football. Whether it's the introduction of the "back four" by the Brazilians ,the idea to have the full back bomb forward to act as wingers as introduced by Alf Ramsey,or even the unique Dutch "total football" developed by Rinus Michels and perfected Stefan Kovacs at Ajax,they've always had lasting effects on football.

One that has stood the test of time is the “beauty and the beast” combination at center back. Essentially, the more skillful player, comfortable with the ball at his feet (the beauty) acts as the sweeper and plays behind the other, the more physical of the two. This gives him a bird's eye view of movements on and off the ball, thus he can read and stop opposition attacks, as well as instigate counter attacks for his team. Better still he can bring the ball out of the defence so that his midfielders do not have to receive the ball with their backs to the opposition.

The beast, the more physical of the two, adept to dealing with the aerial threats and more forceful in his approach, is the penultimate line of out field defence and depending on the tactics adopted, could also man mark a dangerous opponent.

The sweeper or libero as the Italians will have him, has also being employed as the lone man behind a central pair, either as a defensive cover, as was used by the Italians in catenaccio or as a deep lying attacking defender cum midfielder as used by the great German teams of the 1970s.

German great Franz Beckenbauer is often credited with developing this role. He launched his teams' attack from deep as they (Bayern Munich and Germany) dominated Europe.

Without really making any noticeable alterations to the basic principle, most teams have used this concept to create some formidable defensive partnerships.

Rio Ferdinand(beauty) and Namaja Vidic(beast) at Man Utd; Ricardo Carvalho and John Terry(Chelsea) and Márquez/Puyol at Barcaelona have perfected this act. At international level Rio/Terry(England), Nesta/Canavaro(Italy) and Blanc/Desailly(France) have also been very successful.

If we go back in history the stylish Gaetano Scirea combined with the ruthless, Claudio Gentile, to form perhaps the best defensive partnership in FIFA World Cup history, helping Italy to win the cup in 1982. The ironically named Gentile, which is Italian for Genteel or kind, was neither of these attributes as he kicked, pinched, nudged and tackled his opponents into submission, while the more graceful Scirea mopped up play.

Further back in history, Leeds United's hard man Jack Chalton was available to form another great partnership with the great Bobby Moore as England won the WC in 1966. The list is endless really.

In Nigeria,Keshi was always paired with a "muscle man"- Okechukwu Uche,Bright Omokaro and Ajibade Babalade all played successfully with him.

Yobo and Shittu who are the first choice partnership for the Eagles at the moment are too similar in style, in my opinion. Their "no nonsense" approach is also similar to those of Sam Sodje, Onyekachi Apam and Obinna Nwaneri. That leaves Adeleye whose approach is much more subtle. He should provide the foil for any of the other players.

At the Olympics last year, Adeleye and Apam perfected this role and conceded just two goals from open play (due to goal keeping errors, I might add). Also while Apam “the Beast” earned five yellow cards at the tournament, the more classy Adeleye’s record was as clean as a whistle.

In the future, depending their form, this will no doubt be the long term partnership, but at the moment, based on form, experience and ability, a Yobo and Adeleye partnership should be the first choice.

PS: This was written before the last two international matches, so bear with me if it seems a little bit dated.

Northern Promises.

“Better a broken promise than none at all.”

~ Mark Twain

The fear of Tunisia is perhaps the beginning of wisdom for Nigeria. Why does Nigeria need to fear (no, let me rephrase, respect) Tunisia, one might ask. It's simple, three times we've met at various stages of FIFA World Cup preliminaries and twice they've come out smelling of roses.

The only time Nigeria overcame them, the Eagles needed penalties to do so, after both matches ended 2-0. That was in 1981.Of course everybody remembers the infamous loss in Lagos in 1977.

Very few people however, know that they were responsible for Nigeria's absence at Mexico '86. In one of the bleakest periods in Nigeria football, a time the Eagles failed to qualify for the 1986 FIFA World Cup as well as the Nations Cup.

Without Captain Stephen Keshi and five other players from league champions NNB FC who were suspended after a dispute with the NFA, Tunisia dumped the Eagles out of the FIFA World Cup 2-1 on aggregate and Nigeria's search for their first appearance at the finals tournament continued.

To date, Tunisia still have the upper hand in the head-to-head statistics against Nigeria, but over the past tens years the balance of power has tipped slightly to the Eagles favour.

As the Super Eagles prepare to meet the Eagles of the Carthage variety on Saturday, they can look to their past performances at Tunisia's western neighbours, Algeria for inspiration. While the first result helped achieve the ultimate goal, a FIFA World Cup ticket, the later while impressive was not enough.

With the Ivory Coast breathing down their neck, the Eagles needed a draw in their final qualifier in Algiers to book their flights to the USA. The Eagles were outstanding and Finidi George’s goal earned Nigeria a valuable 1-1 draw as well as a passage to the New World.

Unlike in 1993, the Eagles fate wasn't entirely in their own hands in the race to Germany 2006. The Nigerian set-up had pressed the self destruct button and the countdown was on. This meant they had to win their remaining games in the preliminaries while hopping that their main rivals Angola slip up.

In the penultimate game in Oran, the Eagles put in a vintage performance and ran away 5-2 winners, sadly it was not enough which meant the Nigeria missed out on a trip to Germany.

Once again, the pressure is on after they dropped two points in Maputo. Hopefully they can produce one of those back-to-wall performances, and come away with the three points.

Calling on Gov. Fashola to revive Stores.

Stationery (Super) Stores have been in a state of coma for years and years now, thus depriving Lagos, Nigeria largest city, of a top flight club.

Much as Julius Berger, First Bank, Niger Dock and later NPA, have tried, they never could equal the following ascribed to Stores, which ran into millions of fans.

I remember watching the 1990 FA cup final between Stores and Enugu Rangers at the Surulere (then National) Stadium. There was a full house with no standing room left. I do not have official attendance for that match, but I estimate over 60,000 spectators turned up and three quarter of them were rooting for Stores.

Since they slipped into there current state in the late 1990s, potential fans have been lost, especially to the English premier league. Lagos is currently awash with fans of all sorts of clubs, Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona and even Bolton (I kid you not!).These fans could have made up the Stores fan base.

At the moment, Gov Fashola is believed to be the best governor in the current political dispensation as can been in the dramatic transformation of the Lagos metro area. One thing missing is a top flight football club.

This without a doubt can have great economic and social impact on Lagos, but I will not bore you by listing them here. Luckily, the government has invested in metro transportation so movement of fans will not be a problem.

Mega cities all over the world have claim to at least one major club. From New York(Red Bulls),Tokyo(Tokyo FC),London(Arsenal, Chelsea),Cairo(Al Ahly, Zamalek) to Rio de Janeiro (Flamengo, Botafogo etc), these clubs attract crowds in the thousands(even hundreds of thousands in the case of Flamengo),every other week. The same should be for Lagos.

Formed in 1958, Stores have the history and tradition to match some of the aforementioned clubs. Only few clubs have better domestic record in Nigeria, and even fewer have better pedigree. They have won the league once (in 1992) and the FA cup four times(1967,1968,1982 and 1990).They have produced some familiar faces on Nigeria's international set-up, Peter Rufai, Ike Shorumnu, Peter Anieke, Haruna Ilerika and Ajibade Babalade, as well as the former Ghana international Arthur Moses.

They also have two stadiums to choose from, Surulere Stadium, with a capacity of 55,000(all-seater) and Teslim Balogun Staduim with a capacity of 30,000 can accommodate fans, as well generate enough money to help run the club.

I'm not an advocate of state governments running football clubs, but I have a feeling that if the Lagos State government takes over the running of the club, Stores will be run in the in the proper way and perhaps give them the leverage to run themselves without government support in the near future.

I know there have been a lot of issues concerning ownership of the club, some sort of deal can be worked that includes(as well as be of benefit) to all parties involved as long as it ends up in Store being revived to take its rightful place in Nigerian football.

Do you Know?

That more than half of the team that represented Nigeria at the football event of the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City came from Stores.

The Nigeria-Biafra war was still going on at the time so players from the Northern and the Eastern clubs were unavailable. Stores had won the FA cup back to back in 1967 and ’68, thus most of the players were chosen from the club.

Spring Awakening

"Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn."

~Lewis Grizzard

Just like the Earth, the Super Eagles seem to awaken every spring. Wearing the green and white of the nation, they bloom, flourish like the trees, spreading lots joy and through the flower of their performances, they bring color to the lives of their fans.

The catalyst last spring was the appointment of Shuaibu Amodu as the national team coach for the third time. He like the rains gave life to the team and helped them shed the shackles put on them by Berti Vogts’ management style.

They shone as they marched through the FIFA World Cup^TM qualifiers of last summer without dropping a point or even letting in a goal.

Over the last winter, it seemed the rot had set in once more, as they struggled to get good results in their matches. Although they lost just one game within the period, the ever demanding Nigerian public was once again on their back.

At first they were called “tired legs”, then “Super Chicken”, they later resorted to calling them "bench warmers", perceived as less derogatory and closer to the truth, since the more regular members of the team struggled to get a game in their clubs over the winter. The coach bore the brunt of the attack, as pundits, fans and the press came out of their cocoon baring their fangs, ready to devour them.

Like the Princess shut away asleep for a hundred years in the tower, waiting for her Prince to arrive and kiss her back to life, the Eagles waited, they waited for spring. They waited for the rains to come and wash away the rust of the last months.

Alas, spring is here!

Just like last year, they started out with a 1-1 draw, this time against the Republic of Ireland. With most of the regular players missing, Coach Amodu played a make shift team of debutants and returnees from international wilderness. In fact none of the players that started their last competitive match against Mozambique started the game.

Although the Irish themselves fielded a largely experimental team too, they had their spine of Shay Given, Richard Dunne, Keith Andrews and Robbie Keane available. The Eagles came away with a draw, and lots of positives.

Next up were the French, complete with their big names including that little magician from Munich, Franck Ribbery, whose signature every big club in Europe, from Juventus to Real Madrid seem to be chasing.

Still without their top stars, the Eagle's fans expected a trumping from "Le Bleu". Once again, they fielded the "juniors" and even handed a first cap to left back Echiejile. True to his name, darkness never did come.

Like the North Star, the Eagles refused to be outshone by the galaxy of stars in the French firmament.

They battled, sweated, put their bodies on the line, and thoroughly out played the French. In the end, they came away with the most famous victory by the Nigerian national team since beating Spain at the 1998 FIFA World Cup^TM in France and became the first African team to beat the French on home soil.

They succeeded where teams before them failed. The likes of Egypt(5-0),Tunisia(3-1), Morocco(2-2), Ivory Coast(3-0) and Cameroun (1-0) have all fallen to France in recent years. Even England has failed to find a way past them in their backyard.

The question now is, will these performances be the tonic the team needs to waltz through the FIFA World Cup^TM qualifiers this summer? Have they done enough to win back the support of their teeming, which by my last count includes the over 130 million Nigerians on Earth?

With matches against Kenya at home and Tunisia in Tunis in the FIFA World Cup^TM to come, they do need an elixir to see them through.

One thing is certain though, Coach Shauibu Amodu has done enough to keep his army of critics (and they are many indeed) quiet for a week or two and if he does get through this summer unscathed, he would have taken a major step to shutting them up permanently.

The Morning After…

One thing about football writing is the penchant to use clichés. One of those clichés is the saying that there are no more minnows in football, especially African football. This assertion is generally true, even though Andorra, San Marino and Liechtenstein will have something to say about it.

It will even be more difficult to put this particular cliché to bed-another cliché, forgive me, couldn’t resist-after the first day of the third round of the FIFA World Cup® qualifiers. From Cairo to Maputo, the result was the same,shock results for the favourites againts the smaller teams. Cameroun and Morocco suffered surprising defeat to Togo and Gabon respectively, the later at home, while Egypt were lucky to escape with draws against Zambia, also at home. Ghana held on to a first minute to scrape past a dorminant Benin, while Guinea were comprehensively beaten by Burkina Faso.

Only the Ivory Coast came out with their cloaks unsoiled on the pitch, albeit at a huge cost. They put five past Malawi, but the real news of the day was the death of 19 people and more than 130 injured after a stampede at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium shortly before , before the match, thus adding to a long list of stadium disasters in football. This without a doubt blotted the copy book for the Ivoriens on a rather perfect day for them on the pitch.

In Maputo, Nigeria were lucky to escape defeat as Mozambique had two goals chalked off in a goalless draw. This result has since put a cat among the pigeons in the Nigerian football setup, with everybody, journalists, fans and pundits calling for Shuaibu Amodu’s sack and an overhaul of the Eagles’ set up.

Watching the Eagles on Sunday was like eating spoiled soup. It left a permanent sour taste in the mouth. Their passes were constantly misplaced, the forwards failed to make runs when they ought to. The midfield was non-existent, causing the forwards to run around like headless chicken while waiting for the ball to come through to them. When the ball did get through to them somehow, they fluffed their lines in spectacular fashion.

The only positive from the match was the fact that defence held it’s ground. It is a testament to what can be done if players play consistently together. Unlike the midfield and the attack that played like strange bedfellows, the defence showed a level of understanding,stemmnig from the fact that there has been little change in personnel in the defence for over a year. They played their line well to deny Mozambique those two goals and covered for each other when they needed to. Even though they resorted to last ditch clearance at times, but it was due primarily to lack of protection from the midfield. This more or less accounted for why Nigeria’s best performers on the day were Nwaneri and Shittu.

In the second half they dealt with the threat the Mambas posed in the air. Chidi Ordiah and Taye Taiwo, stayed back most the time to make sure wingers Domingues and Luis were kept quiet,thus cutting out the supply line, while Danny Shittu and Obinna Nwaneri, who was captain on the day took turns on Dario, who scored the disallowed goals in the first half. As a result, goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama made just one save of note in the second half. This was a far cry from the situation in the first half when the Mambas ran riot and should have put the match away.

While the defence regrouped, the same could not be said of the midfield and attack. Apart from a five minute period up to the 20 minute mark, when they put together a string of passes, with Mikel, Kaita and Ike Uche showed some understanding, they simply played catch up to the Mozambicans. Mikel, who should not have started, became more and more tired as the match progressed and should not have been on the pitch when the referee blew the final whistle. Kaita kept going forward leaving his defensive duties, perhaps with the understanding that Mikel, who is adept to playing the holding midfield role, will cover for him. But, Mikel was either too tired play box to box or did not understand Kaita, whom he last played alongside in 2006. They also kept getting in each other’s way, generally handing the midfield to the Mozambicans on a platter.

That leads to Amodu and the decisions he made for this match. His selection, while bold was flawed based on three facts Mikel was half fit to play his role, he had not played with Kaita in long time and the absence of a proper winger in the lineup. In a perfect world,based on their abilities, the central midfield pair should be our best, with Kaita to sit and Mikel to link. But in Maputo, Mikel failed in his duties, prompting Kaita to do Mikel’s duties as well his. Femi Ajilore, could have been a better choice than Mikel on Sunday,given that he was more match fit and was great with Kaita at the Olympics last year.

The decision to use Osaze and Obinna in the wide roles didn’t help either. They have done the job in the past in the absence of proper wingers and are quite useful in dead ball situations, since Mikel is useless at this. But we didn’t need to have both men on the pitch at once. Using Kalu Uche on the right, with a license to roam, otherwise a free role behind the front two, could have sufficed. Even if we insist on using both Osaze and Obinna at the same time, he should have been given a role behind Martins instead of his brother Ike.

Also Amodu’s inability to make a tactical change early enough in the match was key. It meant that, the Eagles effectively ran out of time in the end. His decision to bring in Ajilore for a tiring Obinna was spot on, but the timing was poor. It coincided with a period of dominance by the Eagles late on. He should have made that decision at half time,or immediately after, and should have also sent Kalu Uche on for Mikel,who had clearly ran out of gas. Again his decision not to invite replacements for players that pulled out of the squad did him in. It gave him a chance to add more midfielders to the squad, especially Etuhu and Obodo, but he failed to take it. They would have given him more options on Sunday.

A goalless draw would have been a fair result, but for the fact that Tunisia won away to Kenya. This means that Nigeria are already playing catch-up, thus setting off the alarm bells all over the country. One half the population already believes we will not qualify, while the half believes we can only get to South Africa if we get rid of Amodu.

To say these are knee jerk reactions to the situation is an understatement. At the moment Tunisia have the initiative, but the qualifying series is a marathon, and not a sprint. The Eagles can still qualify, but they can only do it if we play it cool now. There is no need to sack Amodu, despite his poor judgment in Maputo. Tunisia are yet to visit Maputo and I am convinced they will find playing there just as difficult as the Eagles did. In fact, I think the Eagles have a better chance of wining in Tunis, they had in Maputo. The conditions in Tunis will be far more suited to them than what they saw in Maputo.

I am a huge fan and advocate of Samson Siasia, whom many are convinced will be the ideal replacement for Amodu and would love to see him in charge of the Eagles some day, but not now. Amodu has a job to do and his done it to best of his abilities, especially given the resources he has available to him in terms of personnel. I think the abilities of the players in the current Eagles team, contrary to popular opinion is very limited. He has done well, despite his errors on Sunday, to bring them to the level they are at the moment. Two years ago, even with Beri Vogts in charge, the Eagles could have lost this match. In my opinion, he should be allowed to complete the job, rather than bring in someone new, who will want to upset the current set up and put the players in the state of readjustment, a state they have been in, far too many times, since Clemens Westerhorf left the Eagles set up in 1994.

Do you know?

That the Eagles lost their first match in the second round of qualifying for the 1994 FIFA World Cup® to the Ivory Coast, but still made it through USA. In fact at this stage they were bottom of the table with no points, while Ivory Coast topped with three points. They still qualified on goal difference.

Kings and Pawns, Emperors and Fools.

An open letter to the “five wise men”.

It is clear that deep down the NFF board considers itself a failure! This perhaps accounts for the constant march, through their actions and utterances, towards destruction. Their penchant for making strange decisions regarding the national teams(for exampel,appointing Adegboyega Onigbinde and Henry Nwosu to “over see” Okey Emodi’s work with the locally based Eagles team during the CHAN qualifiers) in an effort to stop the slide by the national teams (both male and female) in the past months, no doubt illustrates their despiration.

First they allow themselves to be corned into believing that the Eagles have to get to the semi final of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa to be considered successful(that’s a discussion for another day). This was more or less an “ultimatum” given by the Sports Minister who continues to exert some influence on the NFF, albeit subtlety and sometimes otherwise, as the “supervising ministry”.

This has resulted in their recent failure to protect their employee, Shuiabu Amodu, from the barrage of criticisms hauled at him after the draw with Jamaica (a perceived inferior team) in last month’s friendly.

Every organization has its goals and objectives, the NFF is no different. Thus management and staff work hand in hand to achieve these goals. As such these employers expect some level of loyalty from their employees, while they in return expect some form of protection from those who are trying to hamper their well oiled machine.

Unfortunately, the NFF failed to protect Amodu these past weeks, in fact they (through their technical committee), tried to sabotage him, when they insisted on “vetting” (whatever that means) the squad list for the world cup qualifying match against Mozambique. These actions (or inactions) are most unfortunate given that Amodu’s team has one of the best records in the World cup qualifiers so far (at per with Spain, England and Holland), irrespective of the opposition (England played against Andorra and Kazakhstan). It’s a shame that Vincente Del Bosque, Fabio Capello and Bert van Marwick are not subjected to this same treatment being metted out to Amodu. The latest being the reported appointment of a consortium of coaches by the NFF to “advise” Amodu.

I am sure that Amodu did not ask for this consortium (it will be strange if he did) and surely it will serve as nothing but a source of distraction for him and his assistants. I do not want to go into the credentials of the members of this consortium (reportedly, Kasimawo Laloko, Adegboyega Onigbinde, Monday Sinclair, James Peters, and Alabi Aissien). I am sure they have at one point or the other achieved some success in football, both at local and international levels, but their involvement as individuals or as a group at this point in the Eagles will yield nothing but discord and ultimately failure.

We as individuals always jump at a chance to serve our country. We consider it a privilege, thus we’re always hard pressed take such opportunities. But like everything in life there is the good and the bad sides of any action one intends to take. As such one is expected to consider both sides before taking such actions. If the bad out weighs the good, one is expected to back down. One of such cases is this one.

I am sure the five men appointed into this consortium are honorable men and are expected to act as such. The NFF in its desire to do the “right thing” for the national team, have made a bad decision and it’s up to these honorable men correct it by refusing this appointment.

I know it’s difficult to refuse an appointment that will represent an addition to one’s current income in these difficult times, especially if it means a chance to do one’s “patriotic duties”. One might also argue that there are over 120 million people in Nigeria and if one does not take the chance, they can easily appoint some other person to that position. Yes, but one was chosen because one was considered to be the best among the lot and any replacement will no doubt smack of being second choice. Also the NFF will have to give the idea second thoughts if one says no.

There is a theory that this is a ploy by the NFF to cause confusion in the Super Eagles ( as no doubt this will) and thus provide an excuse to bring in a foreign coach-which translates to some agents with links to board members becoming a little bit richer, at the tax payers expense. If this is so, one would have served as a pawn in the hands of Kings in their mad desire to achieve personal ambition and wealth. Mr. Onigbinde has been there before and the events of 2002, which changed many people's perception of him, are well documented. Only a fool will travel a road known to lead to oblivion twice!

The truth is that the current board of the NFF is on a path to destruction, dragging the whole nation along with it. One can either facilitate this or help redirect them. Instead of being fools for Emperors, one can become the wise counsel for kings and one way is to say NO to this idea.

South Africa On Our Minds

While reviewing the performance of the of the Super Eagles in their debut appearance at the FIFA World Cup® in 1994 the monthly football journal Complete Football predicted that Nigeria will make a habit of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup®, like traditional superpowers Brazil, Italy, Germany and even African power house Cameroun if we can build on that performance and also if we work on getting a few factors right.

This assertion was made based on the credible performance of the Eagles and mostly on the array of talent available to us at the time. Nigerians had just seen arguably their best team ever come within two minutes of eliminating Italy in the second round and qualifying for the quarter final.

Building on that performance the Eagles went on to qualify for the next two editions of the competition in France and in Korea/Japan, as well wining the Olympic football gold, the first by an African team.

Then in 2005, we failed to qualify for the 2006 world cup on Germany, in what many consider a blip in the expected dominance of the African qualifying competition by the Super Eagles. The reasons for that failure are numerous , not least the lack of commitment shown by the players, especially in honoring away matches and the alarming level of ineptitude displayed by the NFA in managing the qualifying competition.

So the question is, can we become consistent qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup® just as was predicted inn 1994? The answer of course is yes, but we have to start with next one to be held in South Africa and forget about previous successes and indeed failures in the qualifying campaign, which were mainly achieved by capitalising on kind draws into weak groups and also the a huge slice of luck in 2002 campaign when Liberia slipped up in the final hurdle. When such luck deserted us in 2006, the result was clear to all, failure to qualify.

So far in this campaign, we have shown that we have learned a lot from the 2006 campaign. The Eagles and NFF have performed their tasks diligently in wining all their matches as well as conceding just the single goal. While we have enjoyed some luck, scoring in the last minute to see off Sierra Leone in the Free Town, as well as wining in Johanesburg after being outplayed by South Africa, we have also been ruthless when they had the chance to be, dispatching Sierra Leone in Lagos 4-1 in a game that should have seen them win by a greater margin but for the referee’s decision to disallow two legitimate goals late on.

As the second round commences in March, 2009, the competition will no doubt become tougher especially as Nigeria has been drawn in the same group with Tunisia, who have a habit of knocking Nigeria out of the FIFA World Cup®, as well a history of qualifying for the three FIFA World Cup® competitions, mostly at the expense of the bookmakers choices for the ticket. They also have a knack for getting the job done against smaller teams in their group, while doing just enough against their main rivals to earn the ticket. What then do we need to do then to make sure that this doesn’t happen?

Do you know?

That Nigeria has lost out to Tunisia on two of the three occasions they have met in FIFA World Cup® qualifying competition. In 1977, Nigeria needed just a draw in Lagos in the penultimate match of the final group stage to qualify for the 1978 edition in Argentina, after holding them to a goalless draw in Tunis, but we lost 1-0 in what remains the last time we lost a competitive in regulation time at home (the other loss was on penalties to Cameroun in the Final of 2000 ANC). Godwin Odiye scored an own goal just five minutes into the match and there was no way back for Father Tiko’s Eagles.
In 1985, Nigeria also lost out to Tunisia, 2-1 on aggregate in the penultimate round of the 1986 qualifiers. Okey Isima scored in Lagos to give the Eagles coached by the late Christopher Udemezue a 1-0 lead going into the second leg, but goals by … and … ensured that Tunisia won 2-0 in Tunis in the return leg to end Nigeria’s ambitions.
The only time the Eagles have over come Tunisia was in first round of the 1982 qualifying campaign.The Eagles won on penalties in Lagos after both legs finished 2-0 to either side.

Nigerian Factor...Again

Over the years the fact the Nigerian nation constitutes of so many tribes and culture has been more of a curse rather than a blessing to our National development. This has resulted in the need to keep everybody happy in terms of appointments to jobs in the Federal government and to an extent in the state government level as well.

Otherwise known as the Federal character, it has come to be known as one of the many "Nigerian Factors", some of those things we just have live with.As a result we are made to live with a system where mediocrity is upheld as more qualified people have been over looked for jobs because their quota has been taken up in other positions. We do not just lose a chance to benefit from such talents and may end up losing them to the private sector or even to other countries, but of course end up with the worst available people for vital jobs.

Football like other sectors of our national life has suffered from this anomaly, especially in appointment of coaches for the national teams. In the last two months, Nigeria has performed poorly in different competitions for both men and women. These performances were all down to poor coaching.

In keeping with the federal character, the coaching job in Nigeria has been distributed across the political zones of Nigeria without putting their abilities into consideration. As such there is no room for respected and successful coaches as long as there quota is already taken up.

Take the women teams, when Effiom Ntiero, who has been the most successful coach in women football in Nigeria was sacked(for reasons still unclear to us), Jossy Lad, who if I recall correctly hasn't done anything significant in football since wining the league with Leventis Utd in 1986, was appointed, in order to make up for the lack of western representation. The result is that the Super Falcons failed to win the African women Championships for the first time since 1991, with the same group of players who won the championships so convincingly two years ago.

Again, after sacking Eaglets’ coach Alphonsus Dike was sacked, the NFF appointed Henry Nwosu, who has no history of working with young players, just to make sure that the Eastern quota doesn't end up in different political zone. Granted we have not really seen him work as yet, but if reports of his approach to the job so far are anything to go by, he has already taken the wrong steps (he is reported to be watching NPL league matches to scout for U-17 players!).

The fact remains that Nigerian football will not make any significant progress if we don't start making appointments ON MERIT.

Is this this Really Love?

The Super Eagles concluded the first group stage of the World cup qualifying campaign on a high, beating Sierra Leone 4-1 and putting up a display that went a long way to repairing their relationship with the fans.

Goals by Chris Obodo,Victor Obinna and Osaze Odemwingie meant the Eagles went in for the interval with a two goal lead. Chidi Odiah completed the rout in the second half, with left foot shot from the 25 yards, after cutting from right.

Nigeria's coach made a few changes in personnel and tactics,dropping Yakubu while handing Chris Obodo a first start in one and half years, in a 4-3-3 formation that suggested an intention to play attacking football.

The Eagles started brightly and had Leone stars keeper Christian Caulker off his line in the second minute to cut out a Taye Taiwo cross, with Osaze odemwingie lurking. Caulker then dropped Osaze's free-kick, but Joseph Yobo's shot was blocked and Osaze missed the right post by inches from the rebound.

In the nineteenth minute, Caulker again denied Nigeria, getting his hand to a Taye Taiwo free-kick to take it beyond Danny Shittu who was well placed to score from three yards.But the break through came from the resultant corner.

Christian Obodo, re-payed his manager's faith in him by side-footing from six yards after Caulker kept out Kalu Uche's initial effort.

Sierra Leone had a legitimate penalty shout turned by Zambian referee Wellington Kaoma after Dele Aiyenugba brought down Sheriff Suma in the box.But they equalised in the thirty-first minute when Yobo lobbed Aiyenugba,under pressure from Kaiansu Kamara, after a mixup with Shittu.

Parity lasted only three minutes.Kalu Uche did well to create space for himself but his shot came off Caulker's right post, but Victor Obinna was on hand to bury the rebound from six yards.

Odemwigie extended Nigeria's lead just before half-time.Obinna's glorious pass cut through the Sierra Leone defence and Odemwingie had just the keeper to beat from twelve yards.

Just after the break,Ike Uche and Chidi Odiah combined well on the right to set up Ike Uche,but Caulker blocked his shot.A minute later a brilliant move involving Sani Kaita,Osaze Odemwingie,Ike Uche and Victor Obinna, saw Ike Uche miss Caulker left post by a few inches.

Nigeria continued to dominate, as the dynamism and constant positional interchange of forwards Uche,Odemwingie and Obinna gave the Sierra Leone defence a lot of head-ache. Full backs Taiwo and Odiah also pushed forward to provide additional width from deep to the Nigerian attack.

With fifty minutes gone,Chidi Odiah cut in from the right turned Ibrahim Kargbo inside out and unleashed a powerful left foot shot to score his first international goal.After that the Leone stars had to apply damage limitation exercises to avoid conceded more goals.

That did not stop the Eagles, Ike Uche had two goals chaulked off for off-side.The first on seventy-three minutes was a tight call,it saw Uche run on to substitute Chinedu Obasi's pass to score from six yards.The second,three minutes later,should have stood,once again he ran on to a wonderful through ball by Obasi, went round the Caulker to score.The flag stayed down,but the referee ruled otherwise.

In the end it didn't matter as the Eagles were comfortable winners on the day, thus going into the next round with maximum points and thus improving their chances of being one of the seeded teams for the draw. It also saw the fans cheering the Eagles' every move and thus suggesting that the fans are again warming up to the Eagles.Or are they?


Do you know?

That this is the first time, since the group stages were introduced for the world cup qualifiers in Africa, that the Eagles have earned maximum points at any stage.
Also Joseph Yobo became the first Nigerian player to score an own goal at home in a world cup qualifying match,since Godwin Odiye's own goal against Tunisia in 1977 in Lagos.

An Old Wound Reopens!

As the Super Eagles prepare for their next match, the world cup qualifier against Sierra Leone, a problem that we have been lucky to deal with over the years has come up for discussion, a lack of competition for our full backs, especially at left back.


Lucky because,since Celestine Babayaro departed the international scene, we've quite had suitable candidates for that position- Ifeanyi Udeze,Taye Taiwo and even Garba Lawal(whenever he deputised). Before him, we had Ben Iroha who was right footed and converted from midfield by Westerhof and of course Michael Emenalo who was recalled from a nine year international wilderness as back up for Iroha at USA '94.

It was so bad that at Senegal 92 ANC we had no proper left back since Iroha was injured.Emeka Ezeugo,Nduka Ugbade and Augustine Eguavone all right footed took turns to fill that position.


The Solution?

I suggest Amodu takes a cue from Westerhof and Siasia and convert someone to that position.This will mean that he will have to apply all the coaching and man management skills he has acquired over the years to get the job done.

The Candidates?

Obvious one is Chibuzo Okonkwo.We all saw him at the Olympics. I think he not international class yet, but he has potential and will surely improve with good coaching. He can also get a look in at right back.Monday James(to my surprise, I must confess) did quite well too when he played there in China, but he will have to work really hard to join the Eagles set up.

The best(and maybe long-term) candidate could be Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé of RC Rennes.He was called up to Amodu first squad, but hasn't returned since.He also missed the cut for the Olympics.Maybe the fact he's not a regular at Rennes didn't help,but I thought he was solid at the WYC in Canada. I think he might benefit(in terms of his confidence) from being in the national team set up now(Samuel Eto'o made his debut for Cameroun while paying in the Real Madrid academy, see where he is today).

If none these guys will suffice then we have to work really hard to solve the problem.

Do you know?

That Finidi George started his career as a central midfielder for Calabar Rovers?
He was converted to a winger by Clemens Westerhof. He reverted to central midfield in the later part of career.

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.

Gabby for Super Eagles?

I was informed by a Ghanaian colleague that Ghana's Sulley Muntari is of Nigerian decent. While I'm unable to confirm that,It's interesting that important players in many countries have links to Nigeria .

I must confess that when I first heard of Michael Essien about 5 years ago, I thought he was Nigerian as well, mainly because of his name.

This brings me to the on going debate on Gabriel Agbonlahor decision to play for England.

Without any doubt, Nigeria is blessed with a lot of talent, and commentators never fail to remind us of this fact especially when some players do not show commitment to the Super Eagles programs. This fact has also been repeated in the case of Gabriel Agbonlahor, who has decided to play for England .

While we cannot use all these talented players at the same time, we surely need to know that they're available for us whenever we need them. This cannot be achieved by simply sending out invitation letters to them simply because they have a link to Nigeria . At the moment we have fair few players who can be become eligible to play for us if we work on them. I will use Gabby,Nedum Onuoha of Man City and Sunny of Valencia as example.

International football at the moment is a lot like club football -as a result globalization
players now have a lot of options. As a result, you need to convince a player on the merits of playing for you, just like you do when you want to sign a player for a club. The manager needs to work hard with the support of the FA Chief executive or the FA secretary to "sign" a player for your federation. This may include presenting your programs, your targets and the marketing opportunities that will come from playing for you.

With this in mind and looking at the needs of the Super Eagles at the moment in terms of personnel, they,in my opinion includes but not limited to, a left winger(Agbonlahor),a right wing back(Onuoha) and a sitting/holding midfielder(Sunny), we need to talk to Gabby, Onuoha and Sunny to convince them to change allegiance to Nigeria. While coach Amodu has done well with his tactics to take care of these needs at the moment, I'm sure his tactics is not set in stone and that he will make changes depending on the opposition and players available, therefore the availability of these players, will surely expand his options.

We must also note that these three players are representative of whom to look for. We need to do further research on clubs in Europe to find players of Nigerian decent. Thankfully with the internet, it’s a lot easier to identify them and make enquiries about them.

Do you know?

That Shuaibu Amodu was the first coach to make Joseph Yobo captain of the Super Eagles. The match was an ANC qualifier in June 2001 against Namibia in Windhoek . Nigeria won the game 2-0.