November 18, 2009
I have been caught up like Millions of Nigerians, from the bazaars of Kano right through to the Isi Ewu Joints of Lagos, in a frenzy of celebration, the fallout of Nigeria’s qualification for the Mundial in South Africa next year. As a matter of fact, I’ve been walking around feeling about two inches taller since that hard fought Victory against a tough Harambee Stars side that simply refused to roll over for their more illustrious counterparts from West Africa to ride rough shod over them on Saturday evening.
If I am feeling this elated however, I wonder what will be going through the mind of Ahmodu Shuaibu, the Nigerian Coach who was the subject of the most malicious and for the most part unearned vitriol it has ever been my misfortune to witness from sections of the Nigerian Media and indeed from the populace at large. In a Nation where football is the only source of succor for the long suffering masses, the anger at the perceived stuttering performances of the Super Eagles was perhaps to be expected. However, what was slightly surprising was the complete lack of objectivity and indeed the barely concealed desire of a large swathe of the Media to see Ahmodu fail in order to consummate their search for a scapegoat for all the ills of Nigerian Football.
In the end, to the enormous relief of a despairing nation, the Ahmodu tutored Eagles, rose to the challenge and exhibited that enduring trait of Nigerian teams, the refusal to give up hope. On a personal level, what was most re-assuring about the encounter was the exhilarating display of John Mikel Obi in surprise, surprise, one of the most breathtaking expositions of Attacking midfield play I have seen from a Nigerian Midfielder in ages. He showed all the awareness, vision and ability to protect the ball that he displayed as a precocious youngster in addition to the physical edge he has gradually developed over the years as a player for Chelsea. This was a complete transformation from the John Obi Mikel of recent games who seemed reticent about going forward and generally uncertain about his role in the team. If what we witnessed in the second half of the game against the Harambee Stars is anything to go by, the midfield problems of the Super Eagles may be a thing of the past. The attackers, Obafemi Martins especially also showed a desire and determination that has been sorely lacking in recent performances. The image of Obafemi Martins sprinting full tilt for 60 yards to retrieve a ball after possession had been lost by the attack of the Super Eagles Attack is one that will remain indelibly etched in my memory for a long time.
While we should no doubt savour the feeling of accomplishment that comes with qualifying for the World Cup however, we should also realize that the difficult work has only just begun. No one in his right mind will suggest that the current Super Eagles as it is currently composed is capable of providing a credible challenge come the World Cup next summer. The real Hard work of discovering one or two additions to beef up the team has to begin immediately. In order to do this, Friendly matches have to be organized immediately to test those players who are on the fringe of the team or indeed new talents who are yet to be discovered while continuing the work of improving cohesion. In order to do this however, I believe we should give Ahmodu a chance and desist from unnecessarily distracting him with talk of hiring a Foreign technical Adviser. Already names have begun to be bandied about especially those of Guus Hiddink and Giovanni Trappatoni. While the idea of hiring a World Class Coach may sound palatable to the vast majority of Nigerians, I sincerely wish that we don’t go back to our time honoured tradition of making a lot of noise about hiring a World class coach and then fail to conclude any such deal in time. Of the two, Guus Hiddink would naturally be the more attractive option, what with his track record of leading unfancied teams to the World Cup to overachieve and surpass expectations. In addition to this, he has a reputation for being able to step in at short notice and deliver. However, with Russia’s inability to make the World Cup, losing out to a less fancied Slovenia side the inevitable questions of fairness regarding his coming over to take over from a coach who successfully steered his team to World Cup qualification will be raised. As for Trappatoni, while I have nothing against his credentials as a coach, serious doubts have to raised concerning his ability to come in at such short notice and adjust to an alien football culture as well as players who he may not be too familiar with. As is the case with Hiddink, he’s also failed to guide Ireland to the World Cup thus raising the same questions with regards to fairness.
Apart from these two, there is a paucity of world class Coaches out there who are available. This informs why I believe Ahmodu Shuaibu under whose tutelage Nigeria has qualified for two World Cups should be given the opportunity to finish the good work he has started. Like he stated during the course of the qualifying campaign, he is aware of the problems of the Nigerian team especially those of the Midfield. His first priority had to be qualifying the team to the world cup even if that meant being overly cautious at times and not playing the flair football that has come to be expected of Nigerian teams. This was done with the knowledge that these problems could always be addressed at the end of the qualifying Campaign.
Now is the time for every Nigerian to give him all the support he requires!
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