Coach Chelle and Nigeria’s quest for World Cup ticket

The mixed reactions that have trailed the appointment of French-Malian, Eric Sekou Chelle, as the manager of the Nigerian national football team, the Super Eagles, are symptomatic of the profound interest of Nigerians in the fortune of the team; as well as the anxiety gripping football fans over the team’s capacity to qualify for the World Cup next year, and to perform well in the forthcoming Africa Nations Cup.

The concern of pundits is whether or not Chelle is the right person to guide the Super Eagles at this critical time. While it will be easy to align with any side of the debate, such alignment will not remove the fundamental challenges facing the development of soccer in Nigeria; and for which there are no easy solutions. The challenges nevertheless pose a real obstacle to the country’s success in international competitions.

Given the development and the practical lack of time for Nigeria, it would seem that the pragmatic step is to rally support for the new coach and create an enabling environment for him to match his determination with appropriate action. After all, there was hardly a Super Eagles coach that escaped scathing criticism in the past; indeed, some of them proved their critics wrong.

A mixed bag of reactions was provoked since the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced Chelle, as Super Eagles manager. While some pundits, including retired national team stars, described the appointment as a slap on Nigerian football followers, who have seen such revered coaches as Otto Gloria, Father Tiko, Adegboye Onigbinde and the very successful Clemence Westerhoff, some believe that given time and enough support, the man, who took Mali to the quarterfinals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, will come good for Nigeria.

To the doubters, the NFF’s appointment of the Malian is a faux pas given that Nigeria is in a precarious condition in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and therefore needs a mature head to guide it through the remaining games of the qualifying series. Some feel that given what the country’s football has gone through in recent years, including failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup hosted by Qatar, picking a rookie, who is, however, referenced in France as a smart man-manager and one of the rising stars of the profession, will give the Super Eagles a fresh impetus to tackle the remaining games which they must win.

Notably, the NFF has insisted that the new manager has the skill to lead Nigeria to the World Cup ahead of better-placed South Africa.

Curiously, the fiercest criticism of the new manager is coming from some ex-internationals, who have never supported any coach, including their former colleagues like Finidi George, who was sacked after two poor outings against South Africa and Benin Republic.

The issue is beyond Chelle not only because he is what Nigeria has now but also because the country has been plagued with an array of disagreements and controversies that have deprived the manager and the team of the needed focus to excel. What should bother football stakeholders is how to ensure that Chelle has the right conditions to do his job successfully.

The time for recriminations is over. The new manager needs every support he can get in the battle to lead Nigeria back to the World Cup.
With less than six months to prove his mettle, his position will be strengthened if he wins the two forthcoming games in March.

It will be an aberration that Nigeria which has won the African Footballer of the Year titles back-to-back through Victor Osimhen (2023) and Ademola Lookman (2024), failed to qualify for yet another World Cup.

The Shehu Gusau-led NFF has made many bold decisions in the last 12 months, but picking Chelle to lead the Super Eagles is a huge gamble, which the federation must back up with the required resources to pull off.

The Super Eagles’ qualifying campaign has had a rocky start, with 1-1 draws against Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, followed by a 2-1 defeat to the Republic of Benin. Currently, Rwanda, South Africa, and Benin lead the group with seven points each, while Lesotho has five, and Nigeria trail with three.  This means that Nigeria must win all her six remaining games to avoid missing the World Cup back-to-back.

The Super Eagles will resume their World Cup qualifying campaign in March with an away fixture against Rwanda in Kigali, followed by a home game against Zimbabwe a few days later.

Chelle knows the enormity of the task before him, but the coach, who will earn $50,000 monthly, seems assured that he will deliver on the task. At his unveiling to Nigerians last month, the Malian sounded optimistic that he would do the job well.

Acknowledging the wide criticism that dogged his appointment, Chelle promised to win over the opposition with his team’s performance on the pitch. Apart from qualifying the country for the World Cup, Chelle also pledged to bring back the attacking football that the country was once noted for. These lofty dreams can only come true if Nigerians rally around the coach.

First, the NFF must ensure the conditions are right for the coach to thrive. This includes ensuring that the players arrive on time for preparations for every game. The country’s poor performance in the qualifying series was due to the habit of arriving for a game less than 48 hours before the match.

Again, the NFF and the technical committee must give the coach a free hand to choose players. The technical committee is expected to advise the coach whenever it deems necessary and not try to impose players on the coach, some of who contribute nothing to the team.

The new manager has his job cut out for him. He must address the poor fitness level of Nigerian players invited for national team duty and ensure that the players give as much to Nigeria as they do while playing for their clubs.

The Malian inherits a team short on confidence and brevity in the midfield, with some of the players clearly no longer fit for national team duty. Being an African coach, who has worked with some African teams, should help the coach as he tries to fly past such opponents as South Africa, Rwanda, Lesotho, Benin Republic and Zimbabwe.

However, the task will become easier if he finds the support he needs to do the magic Nigerians expect from their coach.