The Nation Newspaper

Category: Ade Ojeikere

  • And the beat goes on

    The best of football in Europe is played during the Yuletide in England. While the rest of the continent marks the festive period with their families, the English game lights up the atmosphere so much so that players barely have time for Christmas with families. Twenty-four hours after Christmas, the players troop onto the pitch again, vying for points to lift their clubs out of the relegation zone or zooming to the zenith like we have seen with Liverpool FC. No less than six games are played during this period, with the peak of the pack being the New Year Day fixtures, which ended on Thursday night when defending champions, Manchester City halted Liverpool’s unbeaten run at the Etihad stadium with a 2-1 victory.

    Pundits have argued that the Barclays English Premier League (EPL) matches are the ultimate to watch with their galaxy of stars drawn from across the globe. Others have ascribed the popularity of the English game to the country’s vibrant press, but many blaming the slow development of England’s Three Lions on the presence of foreigners in the EPL. They displace the English stars and the budding ones from their clubs. Let’s not talk about the mind-boggling figures paid to the stars weekly. They deserve whatever they are being paid, since the life span any athlete is 12 years, barring any career threatening injuries.

    But the gauges for measuring the best European leagues are the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League Cup. Countries which dominate these competitions earn the bragging rights for this title, especially those leagues that win the trophies. For this last season, the Spaniards can beat their chests that the LaLiga is the best, having produced the club (Real Madrid) that won the UEFA Champions League and the Club World Cup. The Spaniards can stretch their swags by saying that Atletico Madrid, another Spanish side, clinched the Europa Cup and the Super Cup, a competition meant to determine the best European club for last season. Simply put, all European club soccer trophies are in Spain.

    Will there be a paradigm shift in the teams that will win these trophies next year? It is very likely because key characters in the Real Madrid cruise are gone, leaving the Los Blancos tottering. King Cristiano Ronaldo and manager Zinedine Zidane’s exit has grossly affected the Galacticos’ playing style, although other Spanish sides, such as, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, can do better than the past winners.

    Ronaldo has joined the Italia Serie A, taking his charm and records to the league that had lost its guile. Today, “Ronaldo? He is the man of the year,” Tuttosport wrote on its front page, which was dedicated totally to CR7, who reached a remarkable tally of 49 goals during the calendar year, second to Messi with 51.

    Gazzetta dello Sport pointed out Juventus’ amazing record in Serie A. The Bianconeri have collected 101 points in the year and 53 of these in the first round of the current campaign. The numbers and form indicate that the team, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, is set to celebrate yet another title at the end of the season, perhaps even several weeks in advance.

    Is Ronaldo obsessed with individual titles and trophies to the detriment of the team’s objectives? Ronaldo informed ‘’Sports Daily Records’’ Tuesday: ‘’I’m not obsessed by individual prizes. the most important thing is to win collective trophies and help the team, the rest comes naturally.’’

    ‘’I don’t think all the time of beating records. I work above all to help the club and be at my best level. the technical, tactical and physical level of all teams is better today. It is increasingly tough to win, so I have to keep working hard to stay on top, ‘’ Ronaldo said.

    Is Lionel Messi missing Ronaldo’s exploits which pushed him to surpass CR7 in subsequent matches? How about the mind games between these incredibly great soccer players? for 10 years, Ronaldo and Messi dominated  soccer’s top prize – the Balon O’dor. This dominance was stopped this year by Lukas Modric, who also plays for Real Madrid.

    Ronaldo recognises Messi as his biggest rival. He seizes every opportunity to throw jabs at the Argentine at least to create a media blitz which the Portuguese enjoys, if the issue is Messi and not tax offences and those surrounding his association with girls.

    According to UK’s Daily Mirror, the Portuguese said: “I played in England, Spain, Italy, Portugal, in the national team while he is still in Spain. Maybe he needs me more. For me, life is a challenge, I like it and I like to make people happy. I would like him to come to Italy one day. Like me, accept the challenge.”

    Messi’s response settled matters about both players playing in the same league again. He said: “Accepting Ronaldo’s challenge to join Italian football? I don’t need any change.”

    “I’m at the best team in the world. My challenges are renewed year after year. I do not need to change teams or leagues to set new goals. I am at home and I do not need to change,” the Barcelona forward told Marca.

    The exit of Buffon from Juventus was very emotional as the goalkeeper virtually spent his fruitful years in the game with the Old Ladies. Buffon has joined the French Ligue Un alongside an armada of stars, such as Neymar, Mbappe and Cavani. The French Ligue Un has dropped its less league toga to challenge the LaLiga and Barclays English Premier League for the titles that separate the boys from the men – UEFA Champions League and the Europa Cup diadems.

    Will Neymar, Mbappe and Buffon change the course of history by lifting the UEFA Champions league and make the French league the new Mecca for soccer players next season?  Sixteen clubs have qualified for the next stage. They are Manchester United, Paris Saint Germain, Roma, FC Porto, Ajax, Real Madrid, Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Lyon, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Juventus, FC Schalke 04 and Manchester City.

     

     

    Mikel’s last hurrah

    Will John Mikel Obi wear the Super Eagles jersey again? Or has Mikel chosen the honourable way out of the team by keeping his coaches at arm’s length whenever Nigeria has an assignment ahead? Is there something troubling Mikel which is making it impossible for him to tell Gernot Rohr that he is through with Nigeria’s matches? Could it be that Mikel wants his injury to heal properly before playing again? Will that game be his last hurrah for the Eagles? Could it be that we have refused to see Mikel’s new initiative of wanting to give back to the system where he grew from – giving back to streets soccer through a soccer academy?

    Mikel has seen it all. He has won the Africa Cup of Nations and a bronze medal in the competition. Mikel has played in three World Cup competitions, although he returned to England, injured, shortly before the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa.

    Too many questions but those who saw Mikel struggle through the interview after Nigeria exited the Russia 2018 World Cup with the 2-1 loss to Argentina, knew that the most decorated Nigerian player want to quit the game. Mikel’s reluctance in quitting has more to do with him willing to play but his body is refusing to follow his emotions.

    Mikel virtually licked his lips in responding to this question of his imminent exit after the Mundial. His story was troubling, especially when he told everyone how he kept the secret of his father being held captive by kidnappers before the Argentine game. Mikel’s voice was barely audible; as he fought back tears, looking at the ceiling.

    Mikel still wants to be part of the new team which he described as hugely talented. He wants to be part of the new dawn in the administration of the game, having seen the worst of the system in the past.

    Mikel gave Nigeria his best. He may have shunned a few games in the past. He could be forgiven because he had to choose between club and country. Most times the conflicting tasks were such that he played for Chelsea instead of Nigeria, since the club paid his wages.

    Coach Rohr has been unable to get Mikel’s word about his future. Perhaps, Rohr needs to get the federation’s boss Amaju Pinnick to intervene, knowing the relationship between both men. With six months to the Africa Cup of Nations, Rohr needs to know if he can plot his plans devoid of Mikel. That way, he can easily find who will best play the captain’s role at the Africa Cup of Nations.

    Mikel must not be allowed to exit the Eagles without fanfare. Mikel has won the two important trophies in European club football with Chelsea FC of England. A product of FIFA’s grassroots programmes, starting with the Golden Eaglets for the U-17 cadre, Flying Eagles at the U-20 level, the Olympic Games for U-23 players and the Super Eagles. A serial captain for our national teams because of his leadership qualities, Mikel should be celebrated with pomp and ceremony.

    I look forward to Mikel’s valedictory game with President Muhammadu Buhari leading everyone to the National Stadium to give this worthy Nigerian a befitting farewell. It won’t be a bad idea if FIFA and CAF presidents witness the event. Such moving scenes encourage the younger ones to follow the skipper’s path to glory.

    Thank you John Mikel Obi. Up Nigeria!

  • Bringing out Pogba’s best

    Club tradition held sway on Sunday during the away game between Manchester United and Cardiff, with hitherto ‘big boy’ Paul Pogba the biggest casualty. Stripped of his vice-captaincy badge by the former manager, Jose Mourinho, then benched, Pogba was left licking his lips when Sunday’s game captain Ashley Young prevailed on him to step aside for Jese Lingard to take the resultant penalty kick, which he converted with aplomb.

    In the past, Pogba would have insisted on taking the kick. His jerky and uninspiring movement towards the ball would have sent many nervy fans away from their seats whilst those inside the stadium would have covered their faces, waiting for the worst – the kick missed.

    If there is indeed the anticipated new dawn for the Red Devils, it came from the decision to make Young the captain. Young’s intervention in the penalty kick situation sent the message to those unruly few that the team deserve to be among the top four in the Barclays English Premier League table, not being adrift in points like they are now.

    In fact, the manner in which Ole Gunnar Solskjaer set up his team for the game reduced Pogba’s seeming dominance to an all round passing of the ball, with everyone working to regain possession as soon as they lose the ball. The pattern reminded many of the Sir Alex Ferguson days, rightly so, because Ole Gunnar was his student.

    Pogba realised he had to prove his mettle, culminating in the defence splitting pass that led to Lingard’s second goal, Red Devils’ fifth against Cardiff, which was quite instructive. Pogba will roll his sleeves in subsequent matches. He is a World Cup winner and capable of turning games in Manchester United’s favour like he did last season at the Manchester Derby where United beat City in a dramatic comeback at the Etihad Stadium.

    Many have linked Mourinho’s sack to Pogba’s antics, resulting in the Portuguese losing the Red Devils’ dressing room. Mourinho encountered all the big boys, perhaps to assert his authority, which he didn’t need to, given his pedigree in the game. The players know his worth. They would have obeyed him just as Mourinho could have respected them for what they are worth. Mourinho fell because no club will sacrifice its big stars on the altar of keeping the manager, no matter highly placed. Many thought Mourinho would have learned this lesson from his previous misadventure, particularly at Chelsea.

    It appears Pogba, like all superstars, is a brat. His conduct and insinuations leading to Mourinho’s sack and after suggest he wants to be the first among equals. This may be working for him with an interim coach, but the bigger picture will emerge when Manchester united gets a permanent manager with stature. Then the conflict will begin. Among coaches, Mourinho is a brat. One only hopes he appreciates what transpired in clubs where he got sacked to plot his future in the game.

    The big question rests with the fact that Ed Woodward may have papered the cracks in the team with Mourinho’s sack. Pogba should be told bluntly to be of good conduct lest he goes in the summer for peace to reign. Otherwise, his legion will grow in the team and it won’t be the best of challenges going forward.

    Should Mourinho take time off coaching, like Pep Guardiola did after exiting Barcelona? As a workman, you cannot continue fighting with your tools and expect to produce good results. The players are the tools coaches use to deliver their job.

    Many have argued that Manchester United should not have signed big players, not for its poor finances but for the fact that they detest the Special One’s handling of top stars wherever he worked. The few big players who agreed to join the Club did so at cut throat prices- even when they were past their prime football age.

    Mourinho was wiser in handling Wayne Rooney. Perhaps because Rooney knew he had lost form. In fact, Mourinho’s sack, the third in his last four employments- Chelsea, Real Madrid, now United – explains why he should re-jig his operations. I digress!

    A club source told The Sun: ‘’Once Woodward had talked to the Glazers and told them he wanted Jose out, he needed to be certain he could get the right kind of figure in for the short term at least. That’s where Fergie came in and he helped make sure the whole thing happened with Solskjaer and Phelan.’’

    Former Red Devils defender McGrath told the Irish Independent: “I don’t like having a straight-out go at a lad who is still actually a young footballer – but Paul Pogba now owes a debt to Manchester United. He’s a world champion. And I’m sorry, but it is not as simple as saying that with France last summer he was surrounded by class acts with who it was easy to play – Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, N’Golo Kante, Blaise Matuidi and Raphael Varane, etc.

    “It doesn’t matter who you are playing with. I saw Paul Pogba chasing back, heading balls out of his own penalty area, tackling, covering, grafting, when France were under real pressure protecting a 1-0 against Belgium in the World Cup semi-final. That was nothing to do with the quality of his team-mates. It was Pogba wanting to be the best player and team-mate he could be, to be a winner, not the player of the last two months at Manchester United.”

    Inside the newsroom at The Nation on Boxing Day, a female soccer fan said: ‘’Ehen, so Pogba dey score goals? Maybe he likes the new coach. Make we see wetin he go do now wey Mourinho don comot the club for am.’’ This woman is a Chelsea fan but was irritated with the attention Pogba got in the face-off leading to the Special One’s sack. Players’ power plays are not unique to clubs where Mourinho coached.

    Any club with players, such as Pogba should win trophies without qualms. Little wonder Ole Gunnar has made the Frenchman the pivot of a resurging Red Devils, making his goals against Huddersfield a breath of fresh air.  Pogba is happy again. He could reignite Red Devils’ campaign, with 19 weeks to the end of the 2018/2019 Barclays English Premier League season.

    And his new manager, Solskjaer provides the icing on this new dawn,  stating: ‘‘That’s the Paul I know, the one I’ve known since I had him in the reserves. He’s always been a happy boy and always had a big smile on his face.

    ‘‘When you play for United you should be happy. Of course, it’s a responsibility but it’s also an honour and a privilege. He’s a United boy through and through. He knows what it means to play for Man United. Paul created two or three last time, this time he scored two himself and I hope he’ll enjoy it.’’

    The Daily Mail’s analyst, Amital Winehouse said: ‘’Statistically, the new-manager bounce does not really exist. The idea of the shackles coming off depends on the people involved in the change, not just by sacking and appointing. But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had a clear impact at Manchester United where one man is concerned — Paul Pogba.

    ‘’His double against Huddersfield gave him four goal involvements in the two games under Solskjaer (two goals, two assists). That’s the same total he had registered in his last 12 games under Jose Mourinho (one goal, three assists).Whether it is motivation or instruction, Solskjaer is working for United’s crown jewel.’’

    Is this the reason Manchester United fans are celebrating? What will happen if Ed Woodward opts for a bigger and more experienced manager instead of retaining Solskajaer? What if Pogba decides to dump Manchester United, especially if the Red Devils don’t qualify for the UEFA Champions League or the Europa Cup next year? Is Woodward sure that big coaches, such as Zinedine Zidane and Mauricio Pochettino, will tolerate Pogba’s tantrums? Sadly, Mourinho is a footnote in United’s recent modest history and Pogba is back in the spotlight for the right reasons. Such is life.

     

    Stop washing dirty linen in public

     

    Honourable Sports Minister Solomon Dalung thought he dropped a bombshell by disclosing that Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) chieftains received N1.6 billion for the country’s 2018 World Cup preparations. Dalung must be shocked to read the federation’s response that N3 billion was approved for the exercise, raising the question – how much did the Federal Government release for the 2018 World Cup campaign?

    Honourable minister sir, how much did the presidential fund raiser get for the Mundial? How much did it cost the government to airlift the FG delegation to Russia? Who paid?

    The minister shouldn’t arrogate to himself functions that are not his. The country has two bodies – EFCC and ICPC – to diligently handle corruption cases. The minister’s role is purely supervisory. Giving the NFF anything short of what the government provided for is worrisome. How was he expecting the NFF to function effectively if what they asked for didn’t get to them? It is equally disturbing to read that the federation got the N1.6 billion after we had been beaten 2-0 by Croatia in our first match. If so, what was the cash meant for?

    It is about time government found a way out of this Sports ministry/ NFF wahala where either party washes its dirty linen in the public. Twenty three other countries were at the Mundial. We have not heard any bickering in the dimension of ours? Perhaps, the government should channel funds approved by it into NFF’s account without routing them through the ministry.

    Unfortunately, unspent government cash must be returned to the government’s coffers, yet the business of the game is kept on hold due to lack of cash.

     

    And this

     

    I want to wish everyone who reads this column a happy and prosperous New Year.

  • Still the Special One

    The headlines capturing the Jose Mourinho’s exit from Manchester United FC in England were most unkind. Consider this: ‘’Toxic Mourinho won’t be missed at Manchester United.’’ The trend of comments was the same -unsparing adjectives were used to qualify Mourinho as if he brought no joy to the teeming fans in his 30 months stay in the club. Last season, he won the only trophy not in Manchester United’s locker, the Europa Cup. What a cruel fate for the Special One, who sadly, was driven away from the team’s training session Tuesday by his driverafter being barred from training.

    This humiliating setting gave the players the effrontery to ridicule their coach on social media and in the way they mimicked the tactician, with the worst coming from Paul Pogba. Pogba hurriedly pulled down his tweets when some concerned fans chastised his role in the manager’s sack.

    What was clear on Tuesday morning was that Mourinho had no hint that he would get the push. It was unfair. He came into the club’s training ground ready for work, only to be ‘forced to meet face-to-face’ with the club’s Managing Director, Ed Woodward, whose relationship with the coach is worse than the perceived animosity between the Special One and Paul Pogba.

    Ed Woodward, lately, has been at loggerheads with coaches who signed for the team in terms of who to recruit during the transfer window. A club with such high turnover of coaches has immense administrative bottlenecks which must be examined before good coaches reject the club’s jobs.

    Mourinho’s two-and-a-half year tenure witnessed spats with many stars including Pogba, Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial. The dressing room was in turmoil. However, the fans feel that the players will be jumping for joy that Mourinho is gone.

    Woodward and the big boys at the Red Devils have made Mourinho the reason the team is tottering, even with its sixth position and a Round of 16 ticket at the UEFA Champions League. Mourinho left the club at the worst stage of its history in the last 28 years. The Special One is history now but the club’s management has the daunting task of ensuring that the Red Devils return to the high platform where Sir Alex Ferguson left them.

    Mourinho warned about the team’s soft underbelly, especially in the defence. He listed players he wanted to strengthen the problematic areas but Ed Woodward looked the other way. The positions where Mourinho couldn’t get the players to cover haunted the team, not Pogba’s truancy or his long list of encounters with irritant players. The coach may have his shortcomings of not being able to manage big players’ ego. He needed the management’s backing to call such boys to order; he got no such support.

    Anyone expecting a parachute movement for Manchester United with the new arrangement in place is in for a shocker. Mourinho’s exit will create a void which the new man won’t be able to fill. Besides, the fear which teams have when playing against the Red Devils will diminish, given the new manager’s pedigree in the game – not much beyond the ‘’baby-face assassin’’ toga he had as a former player and patchy feats with minnow clubs.

    Mourinho’s exit threw up a load of reasons why he was fired with the biggest flaw being his dress code for an historic but sad incident in the club.

    According to The Times, senior United figures were ‘’appalled’’ by Mourinho’s casual clothing. However ‘’nobody had the gumption’’ to tell him to change.

    ‘’Mourinho attended the February memorial at Old Trafford wearing dark trainers with a white trim, and a black hooded top under his club suit. February 6, 2018 marked the 60th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, in which a plane carrying the Manchester United team crashed while trying to take off from the German airport in horrendous weather conditions.

    ‘’A total of 23 people died, including eight United players and three members of staff. Manager Matt Busby was severely injured, while Sir Bobby Charlton, now a club director, was among the survivors. ‘’

    The Times wrote on Wednesday: ‘’It is also reported that officials were angry – but powerless to intervene – when Mourinho had his son sit next to him on the bench for a match against Swansea last April.’’

    Former United forward Ole Gunner Solskjaer has taken charge on an interim basis until the end of the season. And, while much of the football world has been discussing United’s decision and what the future might hold for Mourinho, the departed manager was not entertaining questions as he appeared publicly for the first time since the news broke.

    Will the Barclays English Premier League miss Mourinho or is it good riddance to the Special One? Mourinho had his good sides, especially the jives at opponents before matches. Mourinho’s mind games raised the stakes. Not forgetting his tantrums at the sidelines when things were not going to plan.

    Many have asked if the Red Devils expected to play fanciful soccer by recruiting Mourinho? They knew he’d demand costly changes to the squad to get them competing, but they bought into it. They knew they risked alienating those fans who want more than anything to see flowing football, but they bought into it.

    Asked about his next move by The Daily Mail on Wednesday in London while on a stroll, Mourinho said: ‘’No, you know me. You know me. Let me walk. I have nothing to say. You know me, if you want to walk with me then let’s walk to Battersea. I have nothing to say.’’

    Mourinho said: ‘Manchester United has a future without me and I have a future without them. Why should I be sharing more now? Even with the supporters, any of my feelings. It’s over. That’s the way I’ve always been.

    ‘’I’ve been critical of managers that speak about details about what’s happened and who is to blame. That’s not me. I just want to finish like it happened yesterday and I’d like to say it’s game over. I just hope you media respect this way for me to be.

    ‘’Until I get back to football I think I have my right to live my life like I do now. That’s what I want to do. Manchester United is past.’’

    The media will miss Mourinho with his jabs at everyone, especially when they odds are against him. He spares no words to hit back at his enemies when the going is good; little wonder one Daily Mail reporter described him thus:  “Mourinho is the king of barbs and side-swipes, never stepping back from the opportunity to turn the spotlight on anyone – everyone – but himself when questions need answering. He actively pursued a rift with Iker Casillas while at Real Madrid, physically attacked Tito Vilanova in one memorable touchline altercation, landed himself in legal hot water when blaming Eva Carneiro for tending to Eden Hazard at Chelsea, and blasted United’s “football heritage” after their Champions League exit to Sevilla last season. “Sometimes I feel that Jose Mourinho is in the wrong trade. His theatrics defy human comprehension. He remains an unresolved puzzle, which confounds. The industry loves to hate him. He is the man for all seasons, especially during matches which involve big clubs. Why people find pleasure in taunting Mourinho in high profile games remains a mystery.

    His exit paves the way for Pogba’s dominance in the team since he spearheaded the truancy in the dressing room where Mourinho stood firm to control to the chagrin of the big boys. Can Pogba say he has taken one over Mourinho? I don’t think so, given the whiplash he suffered in the social media when he tried to be naughty.

    According to The Sun, Pogba shouted: ‘He thought he could make a fool of me and turn the fans against me. He f***ed with the wrong baller,’ at the club’s Carrington training ground on Tuesday morning.

    It is claimed the only player who did not join in the celebrations was striker Romelu Lukaku, who was signed by Mourinho for an initial £75million in 2017.  Michael Carrick, who served on Mourinho’s coaching staff, was quick to get involved though and reminded Pogba that no player is bigger than the club.

    The report suggests Carrick reminded players that anyone who is not up to scratch would be sold and they needed to pull together to improve results on the pitch. Carrick knows better, having retired from playing for Manchester United last season. He knows that Mourinho fell to players’ power supremacy and knows those to dismiss from the squad in January or in the summer.

    Interestingly, Pogba faced a backlash led by former Manchester United defender Gary Neville after reacting to Mourinho’s sacking with a controversial Instagram post – which he then deleted 10 minutes later. Pogba put up a smiling picture of himself and wrote ‘caption this’, prompting Neville to respond on Twitter: ‘You do one as well!’ Neville’s fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher also weighed in, criticising Pogba, who deleted his post.

    New manager and indeed a former Red Devil has promised the fans good tidings in his tenure, which starts today with an away fixture against Cardiff.

    And speaking to MUTV, Solskjaer admitted: ‘’It’s great. It feels like coming home. It’s been a few whirlwind days. It’s been very hectic.’’ ‘’It’s great to see everyone again,’’ he said in his first interview since being named the club’s caretaker boss.

    ‘’It’s six months, I’m going to enjoy the ride. I’m back home. It’s about seeing the players, seeing the staff and, of course, just being myself.  I know the club is in the process of finding a new manager and I’m just going to be myself in the meantime.

    ‘’With me of course is Kieran and Michael and the rest of the staff; we just want to get the players enjoying football. I’m looking forward to seeing the supporters again.’’

    Thank you Jose Mourinho, you are still the Special One.

  • Festival without games’ flame

    The National Sports festival is back, but not with a bang. Those expecting new things are still in shock. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the multi-sports festival meant to discover and nurture talents at the grassroots to win big laurels at big tournaments for Nigeria has lost its value – and glamour.

    The festival is a glorified inter-house sports; a mockery of the show that kept Nigerians staying up at night to watch the highlights of interesting events captured on television while they were busy at work.

    In fact, sportsmen and women looked forward to the festival, which was meant to foster unity among the participating states of the federation and Abuja. National Sports Festivals were miniature Olympic Games for Nigerians, where those things that made the global event a showpiece were recreated. All that is gone. The most shameful aspect is the absence of the burning flame inside the National Stadium in Abuja to signify that something very important was going  on there. The fans rightly have shunned the place.

    I sat through the opening ceremony of the festival in Abuja and didn’t notice any quartet of ex-internationals running into the stadium with the games’ torch ahead of a motorcade. I didn’t notice any of the big ex-internationals jogging through the terraces to light the ceremonial games’ torch. I have searched in vain for the burning torch.

    In fact, the torch’s journey starts with the President igniting it at a big ceremony. It then travels round the participating states. At the states, governors took pleasure in receiving the torch. Not anymore. Governors now send their officials. They are always busy. In the past, the governors drew applause from the crowd that are at every stadium when they held the torch  while running round on the tartan tracks inside the stadium. Pictures of such governors  were splashed on newspapers’ front pages.

    The march past was a platform to celebrate the Nigerian culture – our dressing, dance styles and those things that are unique to particular states. I laughed when I saw athletes in ‘’coats of many colours.’’ I doubt if all the states marched. From the march past you knew how many big stars (national teams’ athletes) were at the games. It informed the need to watch key events such as the 100 metres male and female finals, 4×100 metres relay men and women finals or events in which national champions were dethroned. Athletes cherished having their governors eat their meals and see the setting in which they are prepared for the competition.

    I recall watching the late Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia sack one ‘’untouchable coach’’ for failing to comply with camp rules at the once famous Afuze Games Village. I wondered then how it was possible for the late Ogbemudia to be at Afuze as early as 6am to witness and sometimes participate in the morning drills. Ogbemudia drove straight from Benin City, about one hour 10 minutes, to Afuze. He ate the meals and sanctioned any caterer with poor quality meals. Athletes’ allowances were paid.

    But today, the festival is like a pain to our governors. What are their priorities? Flip through the dailies, the stories bother on the inadequacies in the games village. Contingents arrived in batches, some having to travel between six and19 hours on the road; others, who were unlucky, were victims of armed bandits; they lost their belongings, yet they were expected to win laurels for their states. Pity.

    Again, I remember how the late Ogbemudia made Midwest’s and Bendel states’ entrance into cities hosting the multi-sports event a spectacle to behold. In those days, Lagos had the tag, ‘’Eko for show’’. But Lagosians

    watched in awe as the Midwestern and Bendel states’ contingents drove in a convoy of buses. The buses driven by women. I remember coming down from one of the buses with my colleagues to take pictures of the bridges and the beautiful scenery Lagos offered from the top of those bridges. Flyovers were unique to Centre of Excellence; so we had to be part of history taking shots from the place. We used Polaroid cameras those days. Sports was good. Rock in your casket Ogbemudia, an officer and gentleman, frontline sports lover and exemplary administrator.

    The festival will be closing this weekend. I wonder how the administrators will hand over the flag to the next host when there isn’t any torch in the stadium. What will be the highpoint of the games if we can’t sit back and watch how the torch flame will be extinguished. What a country! I left Nigeria for London in 2012 to carry the Olympic Games’ torch with other world sports greats such as the late Mohammed Ali. I was invited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in collaboration with soft drinks giant Coca-Cola. It was an unforgettable experience.

     

    Truly Africa’s best

     

    The African Footballer of the Year Award is one diadem soccer stars cherish. Winning it makes the answer the continent. A few choices have ruffled feathers, but the truth is that the voting patterns are released to authenticate what was done. Most winners have had unblemished records, but a few have been bad representatives of the award, such as the ‘spitting cobra’ El Hadji Diouf of Senegal.

    George Opong Weah has given the award a presidential fillip with his new assignment as Liberia’s president. Weah also won the 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year award. He is the first African player to win the award and the only one till date. It isn’t surprising the ex-internationals are angling to hold positions, which were hitherto held by politicians. A few have started running organisations which address some humanitarian activities.

    The reigning winner, Mohammed Salah, politely rejected the Most Valuable Player (MVP), which he earned for being the best player against Bournemouth on Saturday after scoring a hat-trick. Rather than accept the MVP plaque, Salah presented it to his mate James Milner, who scored the game’s first goal, but who was remarkably playing his 500th Barclays English Premier League game. Salah’s rare gesture left Milner blushing, unable to believe what he was seeing.

    Salah’s 10 goals silenced doubters who felt that he was a one-season wonder star, especially as he struggled through Reds’s matches, losing goal-scoring chances unlike last season. The Egyptian was the poster boy for Liverpool with his goals. Not a few pundits tipped him to win the World Footballer of the Year award. It didn’t happen.

    Salah’s injury almost cost him his appearance at the Russia 2018 World Cup, where Egypt crashed out of the first round. On 19 June, Salah scored a penalty in Egypt’s 3–1 defeat to hosts Russia at the Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg. In Egypt’s final group game on June 25, Salah scored his second goal of the World Cup with a chip over the goalkeeper in Egypt’s 2–1 defeat to Saudi Arabia at Volgograd Arena.

    Salah has been involved in 78 goals in 75 games for Liverpool. He has been directly involved in 48 goals in 38 games in all competitions for Liverpool at Anfield. Salah has scored nine goals in nine Champions League appearances at Anfield for Liverpool. Only Steven Gerrard (14) has scored more in their Champions League history. Salah has scored 34 goals for Liverpool in 2018.

    These incredible feats qualify him to join the league of African players who won the continent’s best star award back-to-back. A Nigerian, Nwankwo Kanu, achieved the feat but that isn’t the story today. With 10 goals and joint highest goal scorer with another African, Pierre Aubameyang, the Gabonese who plays for Arsenal FC of London, and both of them being past winners of the award, makes the choice of the next best African footballer of the Year a close call.

    The distinction could be the European championship where Salah plays in the elite class (UEFA Champions League) while Aubameyang stars in the Europa Cup for the Gunners. It isn’t as easy as that, if one considers the fact that Arsenal’s manager, Unai Emery, is a specialist in winning the Europa Cup, having won it several times with Sevilla FC of Spain. Emery won seven trophies in two seasons at the Parc des Princes – one Ligue 1 title (2017/18), two Coupe de France trophies (2016/17, 2017/18), two Coupe de la Ligue trophies (2016/17, 2017/18) and both Trophee des Champions that he entered. These seven titles amount to an impressive haul of 10 in the last five seasons.

    Emery left Sevilla after making history by winning the Europa League three times in succession in 2014, 2015 and 2016. His record could have been even better too, only for losing against Barcelona in the 2016 Copa del Rey final whilst Monaco snatched the league title from PSG’s grasp in 2017. However, he can still boast of being the best coach in terms of titles won across Europe’s major leagues in the last five seasons since 2013/14.

    What have the coaches got to do with determining who among the two players eventually  wins the African award? A lot. They decide if they will play weekly for 90 minutes or make cameo appearances. The best will emerge from the number of matches each one plays and how well their clubs fare in Europe this season. This is where Salah has the edge because he is literarily the soul of Liverpool’s attacking options. You cannot say so for Aubameyang, who Emery gambles on most times for the Gunners.

  • Falcons, others are brands

    The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC’s) pidgin section raised the bar on sports journalism in Nigeria, Sunday when its correspondents covered how the four semi finalists at the Africa Women Championships held in Ghana were received back home after the tournament.

    The video highlighted how Bayana Bayana was welcomed in South Africa, ditto Mali, not forgetting Super Falcons of Nigeria who landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, courtesy of the Presidency.

    The heroines were excited to see the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari at the airport. This lifted the girls’ spirits, but that isn’t the story today.

    From the video footage, it was clear that the South Africans arrived home to a rousing reception, even without the trophy. The Malians were shocked at the reception they got, apparently because they were the fourth placed team. It didn’t matter to their nationals if they won the diadem or not. They were thrilled by their girls’ display.

    The Malians were excited by the focus the girls brought to the country in the last two weeks, having to sit at home to watch the girls change the world view about Mali. Their players’ conduct captured the Malians’ spirit of participating in sports not just for the diadem.

    South Africans had two footages to illustrate how elaborate theirs was. The Nigerian video showed a failure of leadership, with the government’s face in sports, missing. Nor were the ministry staff at the airport. There was also the disorderly manner in which the victorious girls were ushered out of the airport lounge, with the trophy serving as a reminder of who they were.

    No fans; only a few Nigerians, apparently those using the airport. The dancing supporters were missing. No motorcade to usher the girls into the city. They stood aloof, waiting for others to join them outside before entering a white Coaster bus. They drove through the streets of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) unnoticed. What a country!

    The South Africans got their post event ceremonies right because they run sports as a business not a recreational activity like ours. The Bayana Bayana side enjoys the same attention as the men’s team, Bafana Bafana. What they did underlined the need for all our national teams be marketed to the corporate world. It was a spectacular sight to watch on television as sponsors’ insignias adorned the airport. The look and feel was awesome.

    Businesses are proactive not reactive like we have in our sports administration, which is peopled by folks who only know how to spend government money,  which is cheap to get. But blue-chip companies have units whose duties it is to key into any marketing space to leverage on their products.

    Since after the 2010 World Cup, which the South Africans hosted, their officials’ mindset has changed. Companies which identified with the business operations in the country in 2010 have extended their frontiers to other sports, chiefly because there is less government interference in the industry. Deals are struck transparently and agreements met with extant laws to punish defaulters as enshrined in the country’s constitution.

    The sports ministry should stop the needless tussle for power between it and the associations since they are run by quarterly budgets which must be released to them. If the ministry feels that any association has not accounted for what it got, it should report the officials to the EFCC or ICPC. The ministry shouldn’t withhold associations’ cash because the players need it to prepare adequately for competitions. It is disheartening to read stories of unpaid allowances as if we didn’t know long enough to budget for them.

    Our football teams are the biggest marketing brands to attract sponsorships, only if the government can get the National Assembly to pass the Act of Parliament for the NFF to be autonomous. The yearly trouble at the Glasshouse is a major disincentive for sponsorship, more so when the supervisory ministry repeatedly tells the public that the people there are corrupt instead of reporting them to the EFCC or the ICPC.

    How do others do it? In other countries, there are various levels of sponsorship, with the Sports Trust Fund and the Sports Lottery schemes being the most popular. Cash is kept specifically for sporting events, since most of the competitions are held either annually, biannually or quarterly such as the Commonwealth Games, the World Cups and the Olympic Games. Indeed, producing talents to excel takes a minimum of six to eight years, using the Olympic calendar year.

    The idea behind these initiatives is for the athletes to have all-year preparations based on when their competitions are scheduled. These countries don’t have to wait for their fiscal budgets to process the financial implications for such tournaments, since one major event dovetails into another.

    Sports administrators don’t have to wait forever for their preparations. These schemes have technocrats whose duty is to ensure that the scheme bankrolls every event, with the government providing the backing, which the big players need to invest in the industry.

    We believe that there are Nigerian ways of doing things. Otherwise, why have we jettisoned organising dinners with the President to raise funds for our athletes before major competitions? What happened to the previous Presidential Task Forces (PTF) and sports ventures hitherto headed by the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola and others? Could it be that some of those bodies couldn’t account for what they got from the blue-chip firms?

    Sports cannot thrive with government funding. Our sports associations must be accountable to secure the  confidence of the corporate world. Federations’ competitions should be sponsored and the talents discovered nurtured to stardom. If the sports ministry can work in tandem with the NFF, the body will soon be financially solvent to run its activities. The World Cup offers so much to the 211 affiliate federations. A classical example is the money which two Nigerian clubs will get from goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa’s presence at the Russia 2018 World Cup.

    Despite not playing in any of the Eagles’ matches, Ikechukwu Ezenwa still fetched the country $237,720, which will be paid to both Enyimba and Ifeanyi Ubah through the Nigeria Football Federation. Under the Club Benefits Programme, USD 209 million will be paid to 416 clubs from 63 member associations. This represents a significant increase of almost 200 per cent compared to the previous editions.

    FIFA President Gianni Infantino noted that the clubs deserved to share in the success of the competition as they were key contributors to the World Cup.

    “The FIFA World Cup is the pinnacle of football, generating passion and emotion from every player and every fan in every corner of the world. It is FIFA’s responsibility to redistribute the revenues of this unique competition among the entire football community, and clubs, obviously, deserve to share in this success as they were key contributors.

    “I’m very pleased to see that teams from so many different regions will benefit from this programme, which will help to develop football even further around the globe,” said Infantino.

    We need to refocus our developmental programmes if we hope to get the best from our sports ambassadors. Thursday’s reform committee’s agenda is commendable. I hope that the members’ submissions are not jettisoned on the altar of politics.

    “Our dream is to make Nigeria football better and we acknowledge that there is a missing link and correcting this missing link will help put Nigeria football on the right pedestal. I want to assure the committee that we will implement the recommendations of the committee to the letter because we need to create a football economy that will outlive us,” Amaju Pinnick said.

    He went on: “I want to charge the committee to bury their hatchet and work together as a team for the good of  Nigeria. To right the wrong in our football, harmonious relationship must be ensured by the committee members. We must put away our personal interest and work for the good of Nigeria football and I am really happy to have the quality of people in this committee. These are Nigerians that are passionate about football and we must all work for the common interest of making Nigeria football a bride to the world.”

    “This committee is committed to progressive change because stakeholders want change and the time has come for us to catch up with the rest of the world. This committee will be unique and everybody will be involved in the outcome and that is why we must all see ourselves as change agents that will leave a legacy for generations unborn. We must be ready to change how things are done in the past and use benchmark from various successful nations to carry out this reform,” NFF Vice President and Chairman of the Reforms Committee Seyi Akinwunmi said.

    Before now, there had been many reform committees, such as the SO Williams Sports Reforms committee in the 1980s, the Amanze Uchegbulam committee on age-graded football activities of 1999, the Emeka Omeruah Committee of 2004 and another one some years back which recommended the formation of a domestic Court of Arbitration for Sports to avoid the administrative and legal logjams that almost strangulate football administration in the past four years.

    The immediate past sports minister, Tammy Danagogo had four years ago called for a Nigerian Court of Arbitration for Sports as being necessary to settle the recurring disputes and civil court cases in football that have put the Nigeria at loggerheads with FIFA.

    Reforms cannot happen when both bodies are working at cross purposes.

     

  • Mikel’s plans for street boys

    What a week of sporting activities, making it difficult to pick the best for analysis. Is it the story of the gradual movement into retirement by easily the most decorated Nigerian soccer star John Mikel Obi. Mikel acknowledges that he is a street boy. He wants to give back to the system a youth soccer programme that will mirror what is found anywhere.

    Mikel is condemned by his international reputation to get an academy whose operation is in sync with what he has been exposed to, especially the platform where those discovered have a direct link to further their careers without falling victim of callous scouts or agents who transfer them to leagues where their talents will not be recognised.

    Mikel’s rise to stardom started in the preliminary drills from coaches attached to the famous Pepsi Academy, which had its structures in the 36 states of the federation and Abuja. Indeed, Mikel, a kid kicking all forms of round objects in the streets, had his first exposure to the rudiments of the game from coaches in the Jos branch of Pepsi Academy. Now he wants to give back to the system. But such initiatives should correct some of the problems he witnessed, if he wants to truly develop the game.

    This Mikel foundation should be gender friendly, if it wants to serve as the nursery for the beautiful game. Mikel would have given the foundation the fillip it desires, if its products dominate all our future national teams. We have seen such ventures in the past. But Mikel’s should stand out, if he allows technocrats to run the foundation as a business not a family enterprise, which will defeat Mikel’s novel objectives.

    “I came from the streets. I am happy I have been able to overcome challenges and rise to be who I am today. I, therefore, decided to set up the Mikel Obi Foundation and give back to the streets by creating a platform for the less privileged to also rise. This is why I have come to seek your blessing.

    “After fortunately coming through the rigorous process of the Pepsi Academy in Nigeria, I know firsthand how many flames of dreams died along the way. Now, I want to help change that,” Mikel told former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    It’s cheery news that Mikel has hinged the essence of his foundation on how it all started for him at the Pepsi Academy. This revelation should lift the spirits of renowned youth soccer guru Kashimawo Laloko, who repeatedly tagged Mikel a Pepsi Academy product, much to the resentment of purists, who felt that the coach was a ‘’meddlesome interloper.’’ In fact, Mikel’s silence on the issue didn’t help matters. Perhaps, he wanted his response to come from this Mikel Foundation. Take a bow Mikel.

    Laloko, a trained coach, FIFA and CAF Instructor, has been demanding development fees from all clubs where Mikel played in accordance with FIFA’s statutes on such matters. However, this writer doesn’t think Laloko will do anything untoward to get Pepsi’s reward. He would rather love to celebrate Mikel now that he has chosen to increase the number of soccer academies in Nigeria.

    I chose to highlight the Laloko/Mikel brouhaha to underscore the need for the standardisation of all the academies. These academies are the nurseries for the discovery of grassroots talents. Those who teach them the rudiments of the game must be trained. They should be there not necessarily because they played the game in the past or that they are trained Physical and Health Education graduates. No.

    In football, coaching is a different gamut and the impact of teaching kids wrongly is monumental. Little wonder our national team coaches are exploring Europe for Nigeria-born lads to such an extent that we really don’t mind if kids from Europe play in our age-grade teams. The flipside to this dangerous trend, if left unchecked, is that our kids will unwittingly embrace societal vices in the absence of outlets to earn a living.

    The beauty of academies in civilised polities is that the kids are kitted well, the balls are the recommended ones for their categories, the training equipment are the latest (hi-tech) in the industry, not what we have here, which are rustic and laughable. This writer would love to see these academies work in tandem with sports wears and kitting companies.

    Mikel would have given his foundation the trademark of excellence if European clubs key into his project in the real sense of the word by forming exchange programmes where exceptional talents are taken to Europe to blossom. Such exchange programmes should also involve the presence of European coaches to train and retrain those in the foundation to embrace the new trends in the game to the benefit of the students.

    I hope that Mikel’s Foundation will recognise the new mantra of combining soccer, albeit sports, with qualitative education. This is the vogue in Europe and should be replicated at the Mikel Foundation.

    Interestingly, Mikel has started the right way by selling his plans to Asiwaju Tinubu. Those who accompanied Mikel to visit Tinubu were stunned by the politician’s adept knowledge of sports. It is the hallmark of great men, such as, Tinubu to be well grounded in all spheres of human endeavour.

     

    All hail Super Falcons

    Serial competition magicians Super Falcons secured their World Cup berth Tuesday by defying the resolute displays of the Lioness of Cameroon to win the game 4-2 on penalties after 120 minutes. How the girls qualify for such big events underscores the fact that they recognise what benefits accrue to them, especially those of them in the domestic league, which until recently was a novelty.

    With this feat, Nigeria is among the seven countries to have qualified for every World Cup since the competition began in 1991. Our peers in this elite class are the United States of America (USA), Brazil, Sweden, Norway, Japan and Germany. And like the Yoruba will say, ko easy ra ra – apologies to my friend Colin Udoh.

    I enjoy watching our girls on television during competitions. They are very prayerful. You need to see how they approach the dressing room from their buses, singing and dancing to religious songs. It is infectious. It electrifies the setting inside the room. You can literarily spot fire in the eyes. Wonderful atmosphere that brings goose pimples for those of us who watch. Worthy patriots these girls (women) are – no pre-competition complaints about poor preparations like we see with the boys (men’s) teams.

    When Falcons lost 1-0 to Bayana Bayana of South Africa, so much was said about the players’ ages, with some doubting the foreign manager’s tactical savvy. They forgot that the South Africans began their rebuilding in 2016, culminating in series of test games which helped the girls gel into what we are seeing in Accra today. On the contrary, Falcons didn’t kick the ball as a group in 2016. Even in 2017, the best the girls played were games against young boys, with the results known even before kick-off. The girls just played to prove a point. It would have been a travesty if Falcons beat a resurging Bayana Bayana in the first game, with next to nothing preparations.

    Today, in Accra, the setting may be a little different because the rigours of the competition have kept them in a better shape than what they were before the first match, which they lost. It won’t come as a surprise if the Falcons beat Bayana Bayana at dusk. The Nigerian girls have seen the South Africans play and noticed their flaws.

    Given the Nigerians’ pedigree, today’s game is a subtle reminder that they can be beaten again, if they play out of the manager’s game plans. Falcons know that they can be beaten, hence the need to play against their conquerors with respect, unlike in the first game when the Nigerians took the South Africans for granted.

    The fact that both teams have qualified for the FIFA World Cup in France next year should provide the best platform to give their best, with nothing seriously at stake outside the trophy, which the Nigerians are defending . Those rooting for change in women’s game in Africa will wait a bit as it seems the trophy will return to Nigeria for another 24 months.

    Falcons’ foreign manager has done well for the team, with the inclusion of seven home-based players, namely the first choice goalkeeper who was brilliant against Cameroon by stopping a penalty kick, Oluehi Tochukwu who plays for Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt, Rasheedat Busayo Ajibade (Robo FC, Lagos), Glory Akumbu Ogbona (Ibom Angels), Anam Mary Imo (Nasarawa Amazons), Amarachi Grace Okonkwo ( Nasarawa Amazons), Christy Udogadi Ohiaeriaku (Kogi Confluence Queens) and Nnodim Sarah Amaka (Nasarawa Amazons).

    Seven home-based players in a squad of 22 is about one-third of the squad; for a manager who hasn’t spent up to a year coaching the team, this deserves commendation instead of the whip being flung at him. It is unfair to tag the Falcons as ageing, knowing that the game was hardly played at the domestic level until the emergence of the Aisha Falode-led Women’s League Board. Anyone expecting wholesale changes in the Falcons should look at the top six female stars to find out their ages. Need I say more?

  • Eyes on football, not religion

    Ahmed Musa has shown the kind of leader he is. He leads by example on the field of play by scoring goals. Ignore the fact that Bakary Gassama, the centre referee in Saturday’s game at the FNB Stadium, Johannesburg allowed one of the assistant referees to mislead him into disallowing a goal scored by Musa. Off the pitch, Musa joins his mates in celebrating after victories and reminiscing on unfavourable results. Fans should not mix sports with religion.

    When players celebrate, the motive of their victory songs is to rejoice and thank God (for the Christians) and Allah (for the Moslems). For Musa, the songs are celebratory, so he dances with his mates. He mimes the words as others sing along, that is if he doesn’t know the songs. Back home, Nigerians continue the celebration into the night, especially if the teams defeated are the Black Stars of Ghana, Indomitable Lions of Cameroon or Cote d’ Ivoire – these are our rivals in the continent.

    The Eagles stand-in captain shared a video of himself and other stars rejoicing after they were held to a 1-1 draw in the match played on Saturday. But a fan of the Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia’s striker, musaumarsaid1348 posted a message reminding Musa about his faith.

    “Don’t forget you are a Muslim,” the Instagram user said.

    But the ex-Leicester City star, who was visibly upset, wasn’t having it. Musa set the record straight by telling the fan not to bring any form of religion on his page.

    “Don’t come to my page and talk about religion. Take it out of my page please. I do what I like, not you telling me what to okay. Keep it to yourself if you are not okay with what I’m doing,” he added.

    Will anyone blame Musa for dancing to Christian songs when two-thirds of his team mates are Christians? The Christian worship songs were sung in our major languages. It was a spectacle to hold on television. I was bowled over watching Gernot Rohr’s assistants, the Germans, clapping, singing and dancing along.  So, what was wrong with Musa’s participation if foreigners enjoyed what they were witnessing? The beauty of dancing sessions in sports is that all faith have their songs. And it is always nice dancing to them if each faith is represented in the team.

    Musa, who is from Edo State, has a Moslem upbringing. He doesn’t hide the fact that he isn’t Hausa, even though he speaks the language as fluently as the native speaker. Besides, Nigeria is a secular nation. In fact, in sports, it doesn’t matter where you come from, your creed or beliefs; what matters is your talent. It is only during sporting activities that Nigerians forget creed or religion. We embrace ourselves when our teams and athletes win laurels just as we stand up to recite our national anthem before major events.

    Interestingly, the Bafana Bafana game had many twists and turns, one of which was the little South African boy, who wasn’t interested in Saturday’s game. He wanted to see, touch and talk with an Arsenal FC of London player, Nigeria’s Alex Iwobi. No prize for guessing that this kid supported Super Eagles against Bafana Bafana. What won’t fans do for their clubs and players? Age isn’t any restriction. It was moving watching the boy shed tears of joy of meeting Iwobi. He was fulfilled that Iwobi autographed his jersey – a lifetime experience. That he came with his mother shows how passionately the game is being followed globally.

    This writer isn’t quick to complain about refereeing of matches. What we see on television at home are all the angles from slow motion replays, which the referees don’t have. Referees’ decisions are taken on the spur of the moment, even as this shouldn’t be why they can’t make the right decisions. What is intriguing is if the referee could have apologised to Musa. No referee apologises to any player after a game. An admittance of error to a player won’t be taken lightly by the continental soccer body.

    I’ve read Musa’s response to the so-called apology and nowhere did he refer to where they met before the apology was made. Nor did he tell us what the referee wrote or said that precipitated his response.

    “I will say that it was good that he realised his mistakes and apologised for his action and it is past tense for me,’’ Musa was quoted as saying.

    “The major thing is that we have qualified for AFCON for the first time since 2013 and we are delighted about that. I don’t see any big deal about that because our emphasis was on playing at the Africa Cup of Nations and now that we have qualified, we are relieved.

    “I am not worried that I was not able to score because we didn’t lose and we have got our hearts’ desires with the ticket to Cameroon. We know that it is time now for serious preparations and that is what we are after now.”

    Clearly, Musa was responding to what he read. I digress.

    No surprises that Eagles’ admirers always want the team to win matches, hence the barren draw result against the Cranes of Uganda elicited some harsh comments from them. Many felt that the players didn’t show enough enthusiasm to win the game. A few ex-internationals such as Victor Nosakhare Ikpeba, a former Africa Footballer of the Year, felt Gernot Rohr should scout for good midfielders – that section was weak due to Wilfred Ndidi’s absence.

    Ikpeba posited: “The transition of this team from the midfield to the attack remains the weakest link. We are not quick enough. If we get our transition right, we will be unbeatable in Cameroon.

    “We will be a threat in Cameroon with the qualities we have, but we must be ready. Egypt, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia are there; they will be there to compete. We have to do well in Cameroon after missing out on two editions. (But) winning the AFCON will be difficult and I think the last four will be a good outing for the Super Eagles.”

    Indeed, one of the assistant coaches, goalkeeper trainer Alloy Agu revealed: “We’ve set a precedence in the Super Eagles such that any of the goalkeepers can come in and do well for Nigeria.”

    “That was what Ikechukwu Ezenwa did for Nigeria in South Africa. You saw Daniel Akpeyi do it also against the Cranes of Uganda. So, it is not something that we should begin to say Super Eagles felt the absence of Francis (Uzoho) in South Africa.

    “No, his absence did not affect the team. But truth is that he is a good goalkeeper, a fantastic one for that matter. He is still part of the team. He has done very well for the team and we are praying for him to recover and come back. But if there is any player the team felt his absence in the match (vs South Africa), it is (Wilfred) Ndidi, Agu.”

    Will Rohr tell Nigerians next year that the Eagles are a work-in-progress, considering the time he has spent with them? We need to see Eagles play with plenty of understanding. We should sit anywhere in the world and watch the team devour countries not in our class. Fans are not asking for too much, if they felt the Eagles should beat the Cranes of Uganda – even as we have not beaten the Ugandans in recent times.

    No Eagles team has enjoyed the kind of exposure to bigger friendly matches which Rohr’s has. In the past, friendly games were mostly played in the media.

    Gallant Super Falcons

    Super Falcons and other female Nigerian sides are magicians. Every time they attend competitions, I root for them, knowing what failure means to them. Our girls are on their own when there are no international competitions. We only remember them when an event beckons.

    Falcons, for instance, have been inactive since they clinched the trophy two years ago. In the lull period of close to two years, other countries exposed their girls to rigourous training, including playing quality matches, a case in point being Bayana Bayana of South Africa.

    It, therefore, hasn’t come as a surprise to pundits that Bayana Bayana beat the Falcons in the opening game. Rather, this writer is excited that the South Africans are changing the narrative in women football in Africa, with the way they trounced Equatorial Guinea 7-1 to show that their victory over Nigeria wasn’t a fluke. I won’t be surprised if the South Africans start the first professional female soccer competition in the continent.

    We need  a new approach to female football in Africa, which the emergence of South Africa could bring to the game. Nigeria’s dominance has translated to nothing, largely because we have a system where the sports minister thinks developing the industry through the involvement of the corporate world is a mirage.

    A situation where the minister doesn’t watch matches involving our national teams explains why these teams are cash-strapped. It is important to inform the minister that these teams hoist our green-white-green flag during competitions. When they win, they make Nigerians happy. The teams are not for NFF but Nigeria. It is shameful when the international media is awash with stories of Nigerian players being owed huge sums of money.

  • Cultivating the nurseries

    Each time we prosecute our football matches in the last two decades with mostly the ‘’foreign legion’’, I wonder if our soccer administrators appreciate the damage they do to the ‘’beautiful’’ game. Our administrators see soccer development from the prism of participating in competitions outside the country. No programmes to catch the talents young, train and retrain the coaches for a workable template. For them, success is wining trophies, even if the players come from the moon. No surprise the dearth of competitions here.

    We have relied so much on the ‘’foreign legion’’ that is doesn’t matter if kids from Europe populate our age grade teams. We must not win age grade competitions. We should de-emphasise winning, even though it is the ultimate. We should insist on getting kids who can return to the grassroots to serve as icons for others to emulate. Otherwise, we may get the ‘’foreign legion’’ as administrators of our sports to drive home the point.

    There is the need to ask these administrators where those countries get the talents we scramble for to change their nationality. We are experts in spotting Nigeria-born kids, forgetting that they evolved from a planned system, which isn’t alien to us. In those countries, there are established academies at the grassroots where these young boys and girls are introduced to the game usually under neighbourhood schemes. Hence, when such talents blossom, the neighbourhood is proud of them as they return to be celebrated.

    Nigeria has perhaps one of the best records at the U-17 cadre, yet only the exceptional ones actualise their dreams of playing professional soccer in Europe. These players’ movements are frequent among those who headed straight to the European market after the World Cup feats. The unlucky bunch return to our domestic leagues to rot out of existence.

    We have lost budding talents to mismanagement, even after the Federal Government had directed that their future be nurtured by past soccer federations. Our administrators bask in the euphoria of being recognised in the world, leaving the game’s development on the lurch for shylock European scouts to exploit to the disadvantage of our young ones.

    Civilised countries develop their sports through the neighbourhood system where facilities are built to engage the youth and push them away from social vices. Nurseries serve as the bases for storing the data of those discovered. Such information help to nurture and monitor the good ones to stardom. Besides, nurseries lay the foundation where the athletes are taught the rudiments of the game. It’s at such factories that playing styles and patterns unique to such countries are evolved.

    The refreshing difference in this new NFF is the focus on  youth programmes, with Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi showing clearly that the results count for nothing if the products cannot solve the problems for which they were inaugurated. Akinwunmi’s is emphasis on quality talents – not quantity – and the insistence of going for kids in schools are some of the tools to reshape our football to conform with the Millennium era. The only snag in this initiative is that it appears to be  restricted to Abuja and Lagos, which do not represent all of Nigeria, even if the players come from the 36 states and Abuja.

    We can’t be talking about growing talents at the nurseries without standardising the academies that abound in the country. The fraud committed by some disgruntled folks in the name of soccer academies can only be curtailed if the NFF through its state affiliates compel all such bodies to register with it. That way, the authorities can identify who the fraudster is if such allegations arise. This collegiate arrangement will eliminate age cheats because a kid discovered in Edo State, for instance as Ikponwonsa Ikponwonsa in 1988 as a 12-year old, cannot be Etim Etim in 2008 claiming to be 16. The details of his data from his first registration in Edo State will give him out even as Etim Etim.

    Pilot schemes of this initiative should be spread across the country, especially when a sponsor as big as Zenith Bank Plc is involved. Sports friendly governors should be cultivated to embrace the project. These governors will key into it since it encourages the synergy between the Sports Ministry and the 36 states and Abuja’s Ministry of Education, where the bulk of the grassroots talents reside.

    Our soccer chiefs should reinvent those secondary schools’ competitions, such as Principal Cup, Governor’s Cup, Grier Cup, Hussey Shield, Lady Manuwa Cup for athletics, Morocco Clarke Cup for cricket etc. Such remodelled initiatives will boost the return of the biannual National Sports Festival, which must be hosted by the Sports Ministry not made a political tool by self-seeking state governors.

    The governors will be encouraged to speak with their friends and government contractors to contribute towards the project’s sustenance by sponsoring competitions, not just soccer, in their Local Government Areas (LGAs). Secondary schools’ inter-house sports were always a spectacle, especially the last races – the 4×100 metres invitational relay races for schoolboys and girls. The dearth of competitions crippled sports, not forgetting the conversion of playgrounds into make-shift schools under the guise of offering free education to everyone.

    Free education killed boarding houses, the nurseries for sports talents among schoolboys and girls. Inter house competitions were like carnivals in Government College Ughelli, no matter the sport.

    Governors’ could impress it on proprietors of schools to construct playing grounds for kids to unwind and compete with others in sports. The idea of schools hiring playgrounds or stadia for their inter-house sports doesn’t encourage participation in sports. Growing up in Government College Ughelli from 1972 to 1977, students knew what category of sports wears they took to school. There was a calendar for sports, which is missing today. Only few sports, such as table tennis, badminton and the elite sports, such as golf and polo have discerning calendars of yearly activities, which they follow religiously.

    Sports cannot thrive in Nigeria without the government’s intervention. It is the government’s responsibility to provide facilities and create the enabling environment for the industry to function with support from the corporate world. Blue chip companies will be willing to support sports if they know government’s level of commitment towards the industry. The government should offer incentives to sports friendly firms.

    Once the government can persuade the corporate world to key into sports programmes, the federation  should ensure that their foreign coaches are part of the development, such that they are forced to look towards the products of such efforts to  replace our ageing stars instead of combing Europe to beg kids who have never been to this country to play for us.

    Peter Rufai, George Finidi, Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini, Samson Siasia, Mikel Obi, Nwankwo Kanu, Segun Odegbami, Henry Nwosu, Tarila Okoronwanta, Edema Fuludu, Emmanuel Okala, Christian Chukwu, Adokie Amiesiamaka et al were not discovered in Europe. They are products of previous systems in place to scout for talents.

    Even foreign coach partook in the scouting system, such that Clemens Westerhof and Johannes Bonfrere were adjudged to have excelled because of their feats in fishing out young players in the domestic league to displace established stars in our national teams. Daniel Amokachi, Friday Elaho, Uche Okechukwu, Benedict Iroha et al were some of the domestic league players Westerhof discovered and exposed to clubs in Europe.

    The domestic league is ugly to watch because our national team’s stars don’t play there. It was box office fixture anytime IICC Shooting Stars met Enugu Rangers anywhere in the country because both teams paraded our best players in the Green Eagles. Football fans in the neighbouring states and those who could afford to travelled long distances to watch the game. The pulling force was the boys in the Eagles playing for both teams.

    The corporate world supported clubs because they could connect their products and services to fans of IICC and Rangers who pulled the crowd everywhere they played. IICC had the late Best Ogedegbe in goal. Rangers had towering Okala. IICC had Odegbami, the late Mudashiru Babatunde Lawal, Sam Ojebode and the late Kunle Awesu. Rangers had Chukwu, Aloysius Atuegbu, the late Christian Madu, the late Ogidi Ibeabuchi (we became friends at the University of Benin, Benin City) and master dribbler, Amiesiamaka, for instance. Need I list others?

    Of course, the spiral effect of these stars’ exploits was best captured in 1978 when Coach Alabi Assien brought Bendel Insurance FC of Benin City to Lagos to discipline IICC 2-0 in the semi-final and Rangers 3-0 in the finals of the Challenge Cup with new kids, such as Agwo Nnaji, David Adiele, Kadiri Ikhana, the late Felix Agbonifo, Lotis Boateng, Francis Monidafe, Christopher Ogu, George Omokaro, Peter Egharebva, Henry Ogboe and Ebenezer Badger.

    Pundits and gurus, such as the late radio commentator Ernest Okonkwo looked forward to an IICC Shooting Stars vs Rangers’ Challenge Cup final in 1978 inside the main-bowl of the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos. It never came to pass- no  thanks to Coach Aissien who invaded Lagos with grassroots boys to change the narrative of the domestic league with the Bendel boys. It didn’t come as a surprise when Bendel boys, such as Ikhana, Adiele, Ogu, Boateng and Monidafe played for Nigeria subsequently.

    The Zenith Bank cum NFF initiative is the right way to go but effort should be made to ensure that those discovered are nurtured and exposed to the big game through the federation’s transfer systems, not through shylock agents who transfer them to slavish deas in all manner of leagues.

  • Before the Bafana dance

    I can visualise the dance steps and whining among the players and other passengers kissing their bottles of wine, beer, minerals and the clapping from those seated, but who don’t know how dance Shaku Shaku inside the chartered aircraft in the wee hours of November 18, after beating Bafana Bafana inside the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on November 17. I can virtually hear the pilot’s messages for calm, although he too likes what is happening, but he must do his precautionary job.

    I can see the celebrants holding tight to anything in sight when turbulence starts with the aircraft’s jerky movements due to the cloudy skies. This weather condition will force the pilot to warn passengers to sit down and fasten their seat belts in line with aviation rules.

    Did I hear you say I’m beating the gun? For a game between Nigeria and South Africa, with due respect, pundits will give it to us with goals aplenty, given the quality of players on both sides. We have close to 23 foreign-based players in this squad. We will need to surf the internet to search for the clubs where most of the South Africans picked for this game ply their trade. Bafana Bafana’s strength epitomises what the leagues represent unlike ours where our administrators are not bothered if all the invited players come from the moon – if possible.

    However, the South Africans burnt their candles on both ends by securing  a barren draw against Libya at home and Seychelles in Victoria. If they had won these two games, they wouldn’t be pressing the panic button for the Super Eagles clash on November 17, having humbled the Nigerians 2-0 inside the Nest of Champions in Uyo last year. No one should blame Bafana Bafana for the drawn game because those are the hallmarks of soccer – unpredictable.

    Interestingly, injuries have crippled both teams, leaving the managers with the option of parading their second best in key positions. Bafana Bafana’s manager Stuart Baxter has re-arranged his squad due to injuries to several of his key players – the latest being England-based Kamohelo Mokotjo. Other key players set to miss this fixture are Dean Furman, Bongani Zungu, Keagan Dolly, Sibusiso Vilakazi and Bradley Grobler. The new entrants, however, could decide the course of the game, knowing that it is their best chance to prove their mettle.

    Nigeria lead Group E with nine points, just one ahead of South Africa – who are yet to concede or lose a match in the qualifiers, making the November 17 game, a tricky test for the Nigerians, who must leave the FNB Stadium unscathed, if they hope to top Group E. The South Africans are ready to scuttle the Eagles’ revenge mission. They talk about it. They are ready for what the Nigerians will throw at them to avenge the 2-0 loss in Uyo last year.

    “It has really been a tough task to select the team to face Nigeria without some of our regular players, but we have to soldier on. These injuries could not have come at the worst of times when we really need to collect all three points because we are well aware of the importance of doing this.

    “The positive side, however, is that this gives us a chance to introduce other players into the squad, and these are players we have been monitoring, so it not like a knee-jerk reaction. This helps us to ensure that when we qualify for the tournament, we’ve an even bigger pool of players to choose from. I am also confident that the players brought in will do a good job,” Baxter concluded.

    Baxter is holding on to a straw with this game. He knows that he will be sacked at the end of this campaign. But victory over Nigeria will attract the fans’ sympathy and put pressure of the South Africa Football Association (SAFA) to rescind its plan to sack Baxter. Baxter and SAFA chiefs are strange bed fellows, united only by the task of getting Bafana Bafana to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations slated for Cameroon in June.

    What Baxter lacks in support from his employers, Gernot Rohr has aplenty, such that his professional opinions are considered while his salaries have been paid – a departure from the past. However, Rohr’s best chance to show that he hasn’t been wasting his time here rests with how well his substitutes for injured players perform in Johannesburg on November 17.

    Goalkeeper Francis Uzoho is out. His replacement is Theophilus Afelokhai, a home-based player, who will be sitting down on the bench when his team mate Ikechukwu Ezenwa at Enyimba FC of Aba, who he benches, mans the goalpost. It happens only in Nigeria. No criteria for picking players. Otherwise, where did Rohr see Ezenwa keep to necessitate his invitation to camp ahead of Afelokhai? Well, this is Ezenwa’s chance to show that he is the best goalkeeper. South Africa-based goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi, ordinarily, should be in goal on November 17, since he knows the FNB Stadium very well. Will Rohr gamble on Akpeyi against Bafana Bafana? Not likely. Akpeyi has problems with aerial balls just as his flaws are known to the South Africans since he is based there.

    I pity Rohr. The news Thursday that Odion Ighalo, the team’s highest goal scorer in this qualifiers, is injured and was stretchered out of the field in a game in China will set him thinking – why now? Ighalo understands how to play with Ahmed Musa and their combination raised hopes of a new dawn for the Eagles during the two games against Libya in Uyo and Tunisia.

    Will the Eagles trouble the South Africans without Ighalo? Yes, since they will be disappointed with his absence, having factored his strong points into their preparations. Samuel Kalu and Simon Moses can rattle the South Africans, if the passes get to them upfront. They may be smallish in stature but their pace will unsettle the hosts, which is what they cannot manage, especially with a faster Ahmed Musa, captain for the side and another goal scorer upfront.

    How on earth will any coach place Henry Onyekuru on standby when his absence was due to injuries. He has since been training with Galatasaray FC in Turkey. It raises the poser of how effective Rohr’s monitoring of our players is? Rohr should seek answers from his scouts. Our best players should be on parade- no matter what. It is a shame that Onyekuru will be playing due to Ighalo’s injury, not on merit.

    The biggest tool in any warfare is the surprise element. Injuries to our key players in the defence, midfield and attack have offered Rohr a chance to try out new boys. Bafana Bafana will be worried about the composition of our midfield, now that we won’t have Mikel, Ogenyi Onazi and Wilfred Ndidi. Alex Iwobi’s weekly mercurial displays for Arsenal in the Barclays English Premier League and Europa Cup matches should be the match stick that Eagles need to burn out the hosts.

    Iwobi has shown that he can play effectively in the midfield. John Ogu, Oghenekaro Etebo and Iwobi are the holding midfielders capable of making the absence of Mikel, Onazi and Ndidi a necessity for change. We tottered a bit in the first of both games against Libya in Uyo and Sfax in Tunisia. The coach didn’t offer solutions to the problems noticed in the first leg so much so we lost a two-goal lead in Sfax due to lack of concentration, which most time results from players’ tiredness.

    Besides, it takes forever for Rohr to make tactical changes during matches, which explains why we haven’t been able to defend our leads. Rohr’s excuse, for instance, that he replaced Kelechi Iheanacho at half time against Argentina at the Russia 2018 World Cup didn’t capture the essence of making changes because his replacement wasn’t any better. Whereas, Rohr didn’t give Iwobi a second chance to correct his mistakes as a debutant at the Mundial in Russia, he allowed several others with better exposure than Iwobi to ”wobble and fumble”, apologies to Coach Fanny Amun, until we crashed out.

    NFF chiefs need to remind Rohr make his changes when the team seems to be losing steam. The elderly ones could be spared the trauma of playing 90 minutes; after all only 14 of the 18 players on the bench can play. For instance, Mikel is out for the season. His spate of injuries is a subtle indicator that he should quit the game. Nigeria will be doing Mikel some good by excluding him from our matches.

    It won’t be out of place if NFF chiefs find a role for Mikel in FIFA or CAF where he can function as an indicator for him to quit the game. He may be reluctant now because he cannot fathom what to do in retirement. If NFF chiefs make him useful like other federations have done with Didier Drogba et al, he will quit and pursue administrative or coaching businesses.

    Beating  Bafana Bafana inside the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, is a task that must be done. We cannot afford to miss a third consecutive appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations. Up Super Eagles; up Nigeria!

     

  • Curbing Rohr’s excesses

    We appear to be at the crossroads with Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr’s in-today, out-tomorrow stewardship, especially with the army of stars struggling to punish seemingly less talented soccer nations. Given our players’ exploits in European football, we should stroll through these so-called minnows in the group matches, if we hope to climb back to the top five nations in the world like we were in 1994 after our debut World Cup appearance in the United States (US). Our target after six World Cup appearances should be to win the Africa Cup of Nations’ diadem as a matter of right.

    Indeed, a country’s growth in football isn’t measured by the number of foreign-based players in its squads but by the new names thrown up from the domestic leagues. This attracts European scouts into the country in search of budding talents, who most times come cheap (no disrespect to their innate skills). Such invasions by foreign scouts to the grassroots encourages development. These visitors will be persuaded to partner with the grassroots teams in a bid to benefit fully from the pool of talents in such areas.

    The spiral effect of seeing foreign scouts at match venues is that the locals will be further encouraged to get their kids to play the game, beyond the fact that it is a form of recreation which invariably improves the people’s health. The good talents taken overseas return as icons for others to emulate, especially when such a talent returns to improve the living condition of his parents and family members as we have seen with Nwankwo Kanus, Austin Okochas, Mikel Obis et al.

    Scouting for players in Europe and in the Diaspora for the Eagles is inimical to the development of the game. Need I restate the new development of wooing young kids from Europe to play for our age-grade teams? Isn’t this the death knell for the game here? The industry can only thrive with sporting activities geared towards getting the youth to dissipate energy on the various sports, not to be indulged in social vices.

    The mistake most of the foreign coaches we have employed who don’t work in Nigeria make is that they judge the game from the achievements of the clubs and academies that they see in place, forgetting that they were founded under frivolous circumstances. How many of these academies, for instance, have trained coaches and the right logistics to do the business? Do you expect an untrained coach to transfer the right skills to the talents under his tutelage? Will such poorly trained players be able to compete with the well trained ones in Europe? No way. Hence, Gernot Rohr must live here and set up his own structures which others can key into to standardise the process. Some of the monies accruing to the country for the game’s development can be channelled towards building centres of excellence for football.

    In other countries, this process ensures that all the national teams play in the same way. Players discovered are nurtured, exposed and monitored when they eventually become big stars. The essence of having good cadet teams nurtured from these nurseries is for them to grow and garner the experience needed to graduate into the senior national team. A situation where Rohr shuts the gates against our cadet stars leaves them with one option – to play in just any country under the guise of playing overseas.

    Sadly, it is only when their exploits are reported in such obscure European leagues that they are called to the Eagles. Of course, they would have lost their sharpness due to the quality of games they play in the coun tries where they are pseudo professionals. Rohr’s argument that the domestic league players are not talented is weak. It is also an indictment on his employers whose duty it is to develop the game.

    Four years is enough time to challenge Rohr to discover, nurture and expose five domestic league players across all the national teams. Having Rohr go home with $50,000 for coaching only the Eagles, is unacceptable. He should take charge of the CHAN Eagles, which is the nursery team that should feed the Super Eagles.

    Only exceptional players, such as Mikel, the late Stephen Keshi, Sunday Oliseh, Etim Esin, Samson Siasia, Mutiu Adepoju et al, can leapfrog the CHAN team to play for the Super Eagles. With the way Rohr is restricting himself to just the Eagles, the nursery will be filled with poorly coached players who won’t grow into stardom, using the senior team’s platform.

    Rohr won’t be the last foreign coach to be recruited. His predecessors discovered several home-based players who got lucrative contracts with European clubs, which helped the local league. These new stars encouraged the star-trek from Nigerian cities to Europe. Today, there is hardly any country where Nigerians don’t play. Players, such as Olisadebe, left the defunct Jasper United FC of Onitsha to play for Poland, when he realised he couldn’t break into Clemens Westerhof’s squad. Indeed, Westerhof dumped high scoring  professional Richard Owobokiri in the Brazilian league and John Fashanu of the famous Wimbledon FC of England for Yekini. Need I list how Yekini shook the world with his knack for goals?

    Rohr wants to succeed. He picks his best players, but where does this leave the game in the country? He promised a lot about the game here, including making all our teams to have a unique playing style.  He promised to train and retrain our coaches, but we have not seen such happen. What we saw in Russia wasn’t pleasant, except for the fact that the Nigerian side was one of the youngest at the Mundial. We salute Rohr for building the Eagles but such reforms should be anchored on the stars in the domestic game.

    Already, Rohr is losing grip of the dressing room with the jives thrown at him by Ogenyi Onazi, after his exclusion from the two matches on November 17 against South Africa in Johannesburg and Uganda in Asaba on November 20. Onazi alleged  the double standards by the manager at the World Cup, insisting that he ought to have played ahead of those fielded. Onazi, isn’t the coach. The prerogative of who plays and who shouldn’t is Rohr’s.

    Read also: Ex-Super Eagles player Cassidy to be buried tomorrow

    Ordinarily, ageing stars, such as Onazi,  should have been eased out of the squad after the Mundial. Having distinguished himself in the squad since 2013, he will be a liability in the team with his attitude to the coaches and the federation’s chieftains. Onazi’s replacement should come from the league and Rohr should find six home-based lads he can groom to pick the best two.

    It is good that Rohr has revealed why Onazi was dropped. The coach stated that he didn’t want Onazi to play using pain killing injections, which is wise. No player should be made to play with any health issue. A country with over 200 million people should have at least three teams of 20 players each, if the coach knows his onions.

     

    Mikel’s reluctance to quit

     

    I’m enjoying the mutual respect between Rohr and the country’s most decorated player John Mikel Obi in terms of when he should play for Eagles again. Mikel has become a regular customer with injuries, which means that playing for club and country is telling on him. He went to China for vacation football and for the megabucks. So, not much is expected of him in the Eagles, beyond his experience.

    After Nigeria was eliminated from the Russia 2018 World Cup, Mikel virtually held back tears when he answered the question if he was quitting the Eagles. It was understandable because prior to the last game against Argentina, he was told by kidnappers that they had his father and would kill him, if he raised the alarm of his father being held captive.

    Read also: Ex-Super Eagles player Cassidy to be buried tomorrow

    It was understandable, having being a national team member since his cadet days. The thought of quitting the game was too heavy for Mikel to bear, although he had the burden of visualising what his father was being subjected to by the kidnappers. Mikel bit his lip while talking to show the pain he was experiencing.

    Since the last game against Argentina, Mikel has not returned to the Eagles – no thanks to injuries. Even when he recovered, he pleaded for more time to allow the injury heal. One thing is sure, Mikel is reluctant to play for Nigeria, but cannot muster the courage to say so. He doesn’t want to offend people. Rohr can help Mikel by leaving him out of the qualification matches. Mikel could be listed in proper squad to Cameroon next year as a coach cum player. A passing shot preparatory to his official resignation from international football for Nigeria.

    NFF must not allow Mikel quit the game like our previous stars? A well attended ceremonial game in Nigeria against his friends, those he played with at Chelsea, will witness a box office attendance, with the proceeds sent to charity homes or whatever Mikel wants it used for. We must use Mikel to start the culture of sending off our great sportsmen and women.