SUPER EAGLES:HERE WE GO AGAIN !

I thought the events of the last couple of years would have changed us - Nigerian soccer critics that is ,but how wrong I was.The local media in the last one week has been so full of severe criticicsm for the National Team that you would think the whole bunch (coaches and players) know next to nothing about the game or have so much embarassed the country by their performance.


The trend started in a subtle form after the team's first game ,a friendly against Austria,became temporarily muted after an emphatic win against South Africa,only to rise to a crescendo after the games in Sierra Leone and Equitorial Guinea.What are the all-knowing critics saying?


First, that Nigeria is in the weakest group,and so should stroll through in majestic manner whether playing home or away.The defenders,and not the attackers are scoring all the goals.There is no wing-play,no cohession,no pattern,no 'sexy' football.And Nigeria was only lucky against Sierra Leone,they should have lost by a basket!And how on earth we could only score one goal against Equitorial Guinea,when we should have whipped them silly?If we are playing so badly against these 'underdogs',how are we going to win the Word Cup in 2010?And so on,and so on (it seems we have even forgotten that we could not even qualify for the World Cup the last time around!).

And I can't help asking myself if these guys are living in this same planet.With what we have all seen with our 'korokoro' eyes in the last few years,even right up to the current World/Nations Cup qualifiers,we still believe there are minnows or whipping boys in soccer,particularly in Africa?Do we forget so soon that it's barely 3 months' ago that this same team crashed to their lowest rating ever at the last Nations Cup - even with a 'world class coach' in tow?.The new coach who was appointed only about a month ago is expected to have transformed the team into world champions overnight.

Of course it's only in Nigeria that these warped expectations exist,and mostly when an indegenous coach is in charge.That was why the team was disbanded and Adegboye Onigbinde mandated to build a new National Team barely four months to the World Cup finals in 2002 - the consequenses of which we are yet to fully recover from till date.I do not recall anytime during Berti Vogt's run up to the last Nations Cup when the outpour was this bad.People only criticised the guy for choosing to do his job from outside the country.

Any team that wins a football game deserves some praise at the very least.A team that wins three World Cup qualifying matches in a row definitely deserves to be respected.And when a team wins two matches away from home at a stretch,there's no way it could be as bad and rotten as our super critics will want us to beleive.In any case I do think that we are grossly over-estimating our current football strengths.This is 2008, not 1994 when Nigeria had by far the largest contingent of TOP-CLASS African players in Europe.With all due respect I think what we have now is quantity with very little quality.

Having decided to dispense with the services of Berti Vogts,the NFA did absolutely the right thing in hiring coach Amodu Shaibu.The timing of the World/Nations cup qualifiers presented no opportunities for taking blind risks.So the NFA wisely opted for a coach who understands African soccer inside out (exam or no exam).The coach in turn did the smart thing by retaining the core team,try to help the players regain their self-confidence,and thereby build a platform for short term success (which is what the team needs at this time).

Of course I wont pretend not to know where all these venomous criticisms are heading:Sooner or later,the current Super Eagles will experience their first loss (which team ever won for ever?), then the knives will be sharpened.Their will be a massive outcry for a 'world class' foreign coach,and the whole circus will start all over.

My advice is for the NFA to learn from the past,and not rush into any irrational decisions.The current team (coaches and players) is good enough,and should be fully supported,even when they lose a game.I saw character in the team that rallied from the first half onslaught from the Sierra Leonians to seize the innitiative and go on to win (football is played over 90 minutes,not 45).Sexy football will come naturally over time - look how many years it took Van Basten to mould the Dutch team.