It is not an end. Rather, I choose to embrace it as the start of a new beginning. That’s how I see the exit of the Super Eagles from the title chase for AFCON 2025.
Now, more than at any time in the recent past, I see the real possibility of the rebirth of the Super Eagles to winning ways.
I thought I may be alone with such feelings until I received John Mastoroudes’s reaction to the match against Morocco.
“Hello Segun , I felt so bad losing again on penalties!! On the night, we lost to a better side that tactically managed to stop our team from playing the way they had exhibited throughout the tournament. Iwobi and our full backs were not allowed to be creative!
“I have changed my mind about the coach though. I now believe he should carry on. I liked the team tactics and his very calm demeanor! However, the Administration of our football showed again how poor they are by allowing, as usual, so many bad incidents to happen to the detriment of our team! The future (even though there is nothing much happening soon) is very promising with the calibre of players we have”.
Those are the words of the proprietor of one of the best-organised football clubs in Nigeria in the 1980s – Leventis United FC. I add my voice to John’s.
I am pleased and proud of the manner the Super Eagles played throughout the AFCON Championship, including the very difficult match against Morocco. In a ‘mission ‘impossible’ encounter, without panicking at everything that was thrown at them, they kept the Moroccans in check throughout 120 minutes of the game that was dominated by the more aggressive and more ball-possessing Atlas Lions.
At the same time, despite not playing very well, the Super Eagles were never under serious threat of losing, or even conceding a single goal. The teams cancelled each other out. The game could have gone on for a whole week without either side scoring a goal.
The Nigerian defense kept their cool. The attack was completely blunted and cut off from the supply line of passes that never came from closely-marked midfield players.
The Atlas Lions were better on the night and with the ball only because they were ‘hungrier’ to win, played as if they were possessed, kept more possession of the ball, and did not give Nigeria’s most dangerous players, Iwobi, Osimhen, Lookman and Akor, any breathing space to do any damage. Their tactics worked to perfection.
Add to all of that the support of 60,000 Moroccans compared to Nigerian support that almost did not exist under the circumstances on the night. The few faces in Green and White were drowned in a sea of Red and Green!
Add to that also the most biased refereeing witnessed so far in the championship. The Ghanaian centre-referee was actually the 13th player for the home side. Many of his decisions were dubious to say the least. At a point and for some seconds during the match, no one, including the players, knew why he blew the whistle. Everyone stood and waited for an interpretation that finally did not make sense – he awarded a throw-in to Morocco when the ball did not even go out of play.
It is those little ‘innocuous’ decisions that make a big difference in a match of this magnitude. He brazenly frustrated the Nigerian team with his officiating.
In spite of all these distractions, the Eagles could not have lost in regulation time. They held out that well. The match could only be decided with the penalty shootout, which is almost like a toss of the coin! Nerves come into play, and any player can become a victim.
For Nigerians, it was a painful way to end what had been a terrific run of great performances. The country saw glimpses of a new generation of Super Eagles led by my best Nigerian player of the championship, Calvin Bassey, in the heart of the Nigerian defense. He should become the next Captain of the Super Eagles, not Osimhen who will always be weighed down by that additional responsibility from the difficult position he plays on the field.
There are some useful take aways from AFCON 2025 irrespective of what happens during the Third-Place match against Egypt. The first is about Eric Chelle. The Malian Manager of the Super Eagles has earned an extension of his contract.
We have seen more of his capability. He has also matured through the longer period of working with the team. He now knows the players better and can separate the wheat from the chaff.
The second is the need for better scouting of the best in the sea of Nigerian players abroad. The domestic league has nothing to offer, the way things are now.
The third is serious investment by stadium owners in Nigeria, the States and Federal Government, to fix strategic training and playing fields in Nigeria. Julius Berger PLC are not experts in turf technology. They have managed the best pitches in the country since 1995. Yet, even that great construction company is not good enough for the quality of turf needed in the country.
Existing Nigerian companies may be doing their best, unfortunately, we cannot point to a facility anywhere in the country done by them that meets the standards we need for our football (local and international) to move to world class levels.
Fourthly, Nigeria needs to address the level of its local coaches. All those CAF and FIFA coaching programmes don’t address Nigeria’s peculiar domestic players technical development. Wrong coaching has ‘killed’ the rich Nigerian style of football!
Football administration in Nigeria
This is where it all starts and ends. Unless, the buttons of proper reforms, and a domesticated constitution involving all genuine stakeholders are re-set, football development to the highest levels will never be achieved!
The last is establishing a proper and authentic structure and institution for grassroots football development, managing the uncontrolled exodus of young players, stopping the falsification of documents, and monitoring and documenting Diaspora and emigrating Nigerian players.
The time to start is ripe and NOW, with the limited engagements of the Super Eagles in the next year. Finally, the match Nigeria played against Morocco was a very difficult one to win – almost a ‘mission impossible’. The Super Eagles are genuinely on the way back to greatness!
