With more than three decades coaching experience in Finland, Moshood Bola Abdulaziz is undoubtedly one of the few African success stories in the Scandinavia following his record performances with Atlantis FC. Ahead of 2024, Abdulaziz has reasonably set his sights on greater assignments with Atlantis FC as well as desiring an opportunity to serve Nigerian football in any coaching capacity, MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN reports.
After his well-documented conquests in Finland, coach Moshood Bola Abdulaziz has admitted that he has the experience to serve Nigerian football in any coaching capacity.
Currently with Helsinki-based Atlantis FC, Abdulaziz, who is in a motley crew of African coaches in the Scandinavia, said his cosmopolitan outlook will be a big boost for Nigerian football.
“I’m an international coach,” Abdulaziz, a holder of both UEFA Pro A Licence for youth development and UEFA Pro A Licence for advanced coaching, told NationSport. “I come from Nigeria in Africa but I am also now a European citizen living and coaching here in Finland.”
Apart from Atlantis FC, the 55-yer-old Abdulaziz has worked across other Finnish clubs like FC Ponnistus Helsinki, FC Kapa Helsinki and FC Finnkurd Helsinki, as well as in Asia where he made headlines with Mohammedan Sporting Club Kolkata in India.
“With all modesty, I have made a lot of mark coaching here in Finland and I’ve also coached in Asia too,” he continued. “As a professional manager, I’m at the ready to listen to offer my expertise and that means if I get any good offer, I am ready to move because coaching is all about facing challenges.
“Of course, I am living now in Finland and committed to my work here with Atlantis FC and by so doing, contributing my quota to the development of football in Finland.”
Before venturing into coaching, Abdulaziz, a former national youth star, featured for NNPC Football Club in the old national Division One League between 1984 and 1986. He equally starred for Finnish sides FC Ilves Tampere, FC Kontu and FC Ponnistus in Finland’s Premier League.
“After my active years in Europe as a player, I decided that my contribution to football has not ended,” explained Abdulaziz, a star member of Nigeria’s national U-18 team that won the gold medal at the 1985 Soccer World Cup in Tampere, Finland, where he emerged as the competition’s top scorer. “I then shifted into the field of management.
“I played football because people taught me football and I also needed to pass my knowledge to the next generation. I was keen on contributing my quota to football development because that’s what I love passionately.
“After my years as a player, I cannot see myself out of the field of football and that was why I went to school to become a football manager,” he added.
Yet, Abdulaziz is desirous of contributing his quota to the development of football in Nigeria, adding that he is ready to accept any available offer in the national team set up, where he admitted his vast experience in Europe and Asia will stand him in good stead.
“Nigerian coaches, especially those back home in Nigeria, are trying their best to improve the standard of Nigerian football and I personally commend them,” he said. “We are a country of more than over 200 million people, as such we have many coaches with different orientations and approaches
He continued: “But it is a fact that football has evolved, there are new trends today with football in the 20th century in terms of education which basically some of our coaches are lacking. We need to employ the latest technology with diversity in the system and methodology of coaching.
”Looking at our national teams, we need to change our mind-set, discipline, social orientation, in terms of football development for the youth. Because when I see many of these young players coming from Africa to Europe, they lack the input of the 20th century’s football development and that is one reason many of them don’t succeed because they lack those knowledge.
“It’s not the fault of the boys or the instructors or the coaches as well, because they say ‘what you don’t have, you cannot give’; so the 20th century ‘s football development is needed to raise the standard of the game generally and particularly that of our youths flooding the European market.”
He further explained that Nigerian youth teams have been struggling on the global football competition space in recent years, adding that he would be ready to rejig the system from the scratch if given the opportunity by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
“Unlike in the past, we are no longer performing well at both the U-17 and U-20,” he surmised. “I remember in the past years, our Under-20 and Under-17 were one of the best not only in Africa but even at the world level.
“But now, it has been very hard for us to even get to the quarterfinals stage, which means we need soul searching about our youth football development and we need to work, not just at the youth level but the senior level too.
“Some of our coaches are trying their best but we need to come and see what we can do.
“We need that because many of our players are coming to Europe and many don’t succeed because they don’t have the basic knowledge they need to compete.
“Of course, it’s not a Nigerian problem but an African problem, and there are things we can do; and we need to keep on working. Clean the system both in the social orientation and discipline of these young players.
“Growing up, we were highly disciplined compared to what we have in today’s football. In those days, we didn’t even think about money, we just wanted to play because we love the game. So I think there are a lot of things to be done; a lot of work to be done in that aspect to develop football at the youth level.
“We need to pump more effort on the youth level and even in the senior team as well because it’s the glory of the country. If the Nigerian national team is doing well, then the country is doing well.
“People love the game, people can spend their last dime on football in Nigeria. As such, if people can use their money to watch top clubs in the world, we need to develop our own football.
“We need to bring football back to the people right from the grassroots and get more people back to the stadiums,” added the 1985 Manuwa Adebajo Cup gold medal winner.
He speaks on other sundry issues – from football in Finland to Super Eagles’ quest for a fourth title at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire. Excerpts…
Football made in Finland
I have been in Europe for the past 36-years now, since 1987, and I have seen their football evolved over the years. Finland has tremendous achievements and they were at the last European Championship. That’s an achievement, indeed, compared to many other countries that could not make it. Since the 1990s, they have been producing top quality players. Finland is a small country of just a little over five million population. But over the years, a country of this magnitude has produced top players for top clubs in Europe including Ajax, Inter, Grasshoppers, Leverkusen and a host of others. Clubs here are catching up with the European families and they’ve done fantastically well in the last five years. One of the things they do better is going back to the drawing board after every season; they make a retrospect, what is lacking, what is the improvement they have to make at the club level, the youth level…we go back to class again and draw the plan to know what is lacking, what we need to improve and that’s one fantastic thing all the clubs do here. As far as I am concerned, they are moving forward and the league here in Finland is improving. There are quality deliveries and you’ll agree with me that since the 1990s, they have been producing high quality players in Europe. So they have done well and given the current economic situation in the world now, the league is doing well with a lot of foreign players drafted to boost the quality of the league and make it an international standard. Today, we have a lot of foreign players from Nigeria, South Africa, Europe and several other African countries at the top clubs here.
Coaching exploits in Finland
Since the day I took a transition to becoming a manager, all my mandate in this field has been very successful and that’s one of my greatest achievements. I have never failed in all the assignments given to me since I became a manager. In all the teams I’ve worked, I set records that cannot be forgotten. Recently, I just promoted a team, Atlantis FC, to the premier league. That’s one of my greatest achievements as well. Before, I had travelled far from Finland to Asia to coach in India with Mohammedan Sporting Club Kolkata. I won trophies there, particularly the trophy that had eluded them for 73-years; the Durand Cup, which is one of the oldest cups in the world. I took this cup for them and I broke the jinx in the club because they’d been having a cloud of darkness in the club. But when I got there, I opened the way for the club. In fact, in one particular year we won two big cups, the Durand Cup and the High Shield, which was not a mean achievement. I came into the club I work currently with, Atlantis FC, in 2018 and what I met at the club was that they had an Under-20 team in first division, and other teams in the third and fourth divisions. But I got the team in the first division to be promoted to the Premier League, while I took the fourth division to the third division and the third to the second division and the Under-20 league. I had two silver medals in the first two years.
Incredible showing in India
I had an incredible coaching experience in India with Mohammedan Sporting Club, which is one of the oldest clubs in Kolkata, and that was in 2013.They were newly promoted into the league and they wanted an international manager and after discussing with the president of the club, I was offered a contract. Frankly, I did fantastically well as we won two significant trophies for the club in one season. It’s unbelievable that a newly promoted club can win a double of both the Durand Cup and the Indian Football Association (IFA) Shield.
It may interest you to know that Nigerians have contributed immensely to Indian football development in the past 20 to 30 years as well as in other parts of Asia such as Bangladesh and Pakistan. I’m really proud of my achievements in India because it was even out of my jurisdiction. Leaving Europe to coach in India is not what many would have loved to do, but I used what I had learnt in Europe to do a good job with Mohammedan Sporting Club.
Ready to serve Nigeria
I am ready to contribute my quota towards the development of Nigerian football, if needed. We need the 20th century‘s football developmental approach in Nigeria, and with all the experience and knowledge I have, I’m ready to pass it into our budding footballers. No sacrifice is too big in serving my country. I started my football career here and was taught and developed by others. As such, it’s my duty go give back to the society.
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Of course, there is nothing bad in hiring an expatriate because football is an international game, but the difference between the expatriate and I, for instance, is the fact I’m a Nigerian coming from outside to serve his country. This is the huge difference, because I’ll be more committed than the so-called expatriate. I have over 36 years’ experience in coaching, which is quite huge. With all modesty, if I was not good, the Europeans would not even have employed me. After acquiring knowledge and work experiences, I want to give back to my society as well, because if the white man sees my contribution and values me, I think I’m in good position to help my country as well. How many African or Nigerian coaches are working across the leagues in Europe? I count myself very fortunate and without being proud and by the grace of God, I have what it takes to help the development of Nigerian football; and I’m willing to serve.
Super Eagles, Osimhen at 2023 AFCON
Frankly, I think that Nigeria can win the next AFCON. We have the capacity and Nigeria will be counting on our players; we are counting on them and praying for them to deliver. In Africa today, you cannot underrate any country and this is a huge challenge because no country is bigger than any other country as far as football is concerned. It’s been long that we won the AFCON and I believe time has come for Nigeria to win the trophy again. We have enough quality players and I just hope that they work harder; it’s very important for us to win the AFCON. It was unfortunate that the Super Eagles did not make it to the World Cup and I saw the comments all over the world, with people angry that Nigeria didn’t make it. People are eager to see Nigeria succeed and I am praying that the Super Eagles succeed at this upcoming AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire. Of course, Victor Osimhen can be a game changer for Nigeria at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire. He is a player of high tenacity and he plays with dedication. He fights and has no respect for anybody on the field. He wants to succeed by all means and if you watch him play in the national team and Napoli, there’s no difference in his commitment because he gives everything. He gives his best while playing for Nigeria; he is a good player and he represents the country very well.
My family and I
I was born in Kaduna State and spent all my youth years in Kaduna. I grew up and played with the likes of Rashid] Yekini, Tijani Babangida, Dahiru Sadi, who is one of the greatest midfielders Nigeria has produced, Daniel Amokachi and co. There are other junior brothers, Celestine Babayaro, Garba Lawal… all these players in Kaduna State; we all grew up together. I attended Rimi College and I was a good athlete. I participated in two National Sports Festival at Lagelu 1983 in Ibadan and Kwara 1985. I had two Manuwa/Adebajo Cups with one gold in 1985 and one silver medal in1986. I am happily married and living here in Finland with my family and children. That’s all about my story.
My targets with Atlantis, Nigeria in 2024
In 2024, I am moving from being the manager of Atlantis FC to the director of coaching of all the teams and that’s my mandate for 2024.
Since I brought the team into the Premiership, the directors of the club moved me to the director of coaching, as such I am the one in charge of the coaching structure of the club. I am in charge of the managers who are managing all the teams in the premier league, second division, third division, Under-20 and Under-13; so I manage all these institutions. Of course, I’m looking forward to other challenges in 2024 and if it happens that my country, Nigeria, needs me, I am ready to come and contribute my quota with my over 36 years’ experience. I am looking forward to it. If given the opportunity, I will try my best to contribute my quota. Of course, many would say they don’t know much about me but the truth is that I’m a very quiet person. But I have been making a lot of landmarks here in Finnish football and other places, but I don’t like blowing my own trumpet. Rather, I prefer my work to speak for me.