On September 1, Nigeria hit Cameroon for four. The Eagles romped to a famous Sallah Day victory, clearly their most emphatic competitive scoreline against the Indomitable Lions, that proved very much domitable. The once-untamable Lions were completely tamed!
It was sheer ecstasy in the Nigerian camp, with even a devastating pun making the cut in cyberspace: “Lions so, so Indomie-table!” The Cameroon Lions were sweet Indomie Noodles —spicy, hot, fresh and smoking!
Yet, another self-deprecating joke, from Nigeria’s virulent political plane, where nothing is settled; as contrasted to sheer bliss on the victory-suffused sports plain, where the country’s unity is well and truly settled.
“Newsflash:”, goes the phoney news. “FIFA has cancelled the Nigeria-Cameroon match, in which Nigeria scored four goals, following a Cameroon protest. How can two countries, Nigeria and Biafra, play against Cameroon?”!
Indeed, bragging rights, against an old nemesis, never came more crowing!
Still Cameroon are reigning African champions. Cameroon, old foe, beat Nigeria in three African Nations Cup finals (1984, 1988 and 2000, that home final loss in Lagos). Cameroon, with a truly formidable African World Cup qualifying records, were the first African side to hit the quarter-finals at the Mundial, a record Nigeria is yet to equal.
That same Cameroon was downed for four and heavens did not fall. Hardball doesn’t know the depth of bitterness in the Cameroonian camp. Still, their Uyo post-defeat body language proclaimed it was only a game of football.
Moral: any team can beat any rival, any how, on a bad day. So, it was with Cameroon on September 1.
But contrast this toasting to the roasting, of the Eagles, the last time they lost 0-2 to South Africa, on the same Uyo, Akwa Ibom, pitch, in an African Cup of Nations qualifier.
It was a painful loss at home, no doubt. Indeed, a biting epochal loss: the first time ever South Africa would thrash Nigeria in a competitive match. So, the Mandela boys were strutting the moon!
In Nigeria? It was sudden end-times, with the country trapped in the Christian hell, raging with whistling fire — such was the gnashing of teeth, the eternal moans and everlasting woes! The Eagles were useless; Gernot Rohr, their manager, was clueless; in fact, the whole Nigeria was headless!
And all that for just losing a game of football, the very first loss by the manager! And more horror of horrors: not a few swore and grumbled: as long as the ungrammatical Solomon Dalung remained Sports minister, nothing good could come out of Nigeria’s house of sports!
That was sore-losing at its most irrational worst, of course. To be sure, under Dalung, Nigeria posted a miserable outing at the World Athletics Championship in London.
But under him too, Nigeria beat Cameroon black-and-blue, en route to a Cinderella Africa World Cup qualifications series, wrapping up their first three matches (2-1, away against Zambia; 3-1 home against Algeria; and 4-0 home against Cameroon), in a very tough group.
Should the Eagles prevail in Yaounde today, they would have qualified for Russia 2018 with two matches to spare. Should they falter, they would still be on the driving seat, needing just three more points, in case of a loss, or just two, in case of a draw.
O, under the same Dalung, Nigeria’s D-Tigress, the female national basketball squad, just in Mali defeated Senegal, the defending champions, to win their third Afro-Basketball title. So, where is the sports Armageddon painted under Dalung, just because of a defeat?
Nigerians must learn to be winners-in-losers. That’s the sporting spirit. You can’t win all of the time, even if that is desirable. To be bad losers, is to be losers-in-winners.
