Nigeria and Ghana 2008

The just concluded Africa Cup of Nations is clearly Nigeria's worst outing since 1982. The dismal performance of the national team, the Super Eagles, calls for sober reflection and drastic restructuring of not only the soccer administration in the country but indeed the entire gamut of sports administration in Nigeria.
The Ghana 2008 fiasco is simply symptomatic of the decline that has set into Nigerian football after the Clemence Westerhof era as national team coach. Therefore precise steps must be taken immediately to restore the glory of the nation's number one sport which was heavily smeared at the tournament.
The Super Eagles' poor run and eventual ouster at the quarter-final stage belie the pre-tournament rating by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) as 19th in the world and first in Africa. The Eagles opened the tournament with 0-1 loss to Cote d’ Ivoire, were held to a goalless draw by Mali and despite the Eagles' defeat of the Beninoise side in the third group stage, the once dreaded Super Eagles had to depend on the outcome of the Cote d'Ivoire/Mali encounter for its quarter-final ticket.
Sadly, it was the quarter-final clash in which the 10-man Ghanaian team beat their Nigerian counterparts that finally confirmed the country's despicable football status. In all the four matches they played in the 26th edition of Africa's foremost soccer tourney there was apparent lack of passion, vigour and the commitment needed to clinch the top prize. As a matter of fact, many of the Nigerian players prosecuted the games as if nothing was at stake. Nigerian-born former England international, John Fashanu, expressed the minds of many of his compatriots the other day in that regard. His words: "They lacked commitment, but can you blame them? A player earning $80,000 a week will not be willing to sacrifice himself for one competition taking place in Africa and thus lose his position in his club. Just wait and see the same set of players who played without any hunger on Sunday (February 3). They will be a changed set of players on display for their clubs this weekend."
The bane of Nigeria’s soccer in recent times has been the over-dependence on foreign – based professionals. No effort to discover and hone local professionals for the senior national team as was the case between 1988 and 1996, the glory years of Nigerian soccer. Unlike the Egyptian League that produced the bulk of the Pharaohs that clinched the trophy, the Nigerian league has been lagging behind. This is why the Nigeria Football Association should take the flak for the dismal performance.
Secondly, most of the players that featured for the opposing teams also ply their trade abroad. While not advocating the total exclusion of foreign based professionals, we believe only players who exhibit zeal and patriotism should be cleared to play for the country henceforth. Talent and exploits for foreign clubs are not enough.
Also disheartening is the quality of technical input anchored by Coach Berti Vogts. He was employed to guide Nigerian football back to the enviable pedestal it had attained especially in the 1990s. But instead of doing so and utilising Ghana 2008 to boost Nigeria's soccer image and even redeem his own dwindling credentials as a national team handler, he bungled the chance. The controversy that now surrounds his engagement is diversionary. All over the world, coaching is not given the benefit of sentiments. The overriding factor that decides its tenure is performance. For instance, Henry Kasperczak, the man who took Senegal to Ghana, did not even wait for his employers to sack him. He simply resigned when he failed to keep his own side of the bargain. And only last Thursday, Henri Michel, the Frenchman who led Cameroon to the 1994 World Cup and Cote d'Ivoire to the last Mundial, was relieved of his job by the Moroccan football authorities for his underachievement in Ghana. In the same vein, Vogts' contract should be terminated, following due process. Vogts must take responsibility for the woeful outing in Ghana as his job description demands. His tactics failed to bring out the best of Nigerian style of play and his match reading ability, suspect.
Beyond the team handlers, there is a more fundamental issue of the incompetence of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) which failed to rise to the occasion and show the way out of this mess. Many pundits continued to point to the football body's choice of Malaga, Spain for training as one of the reasons the Eagles could not fly when it mattered.
Any attempt to redeem the glory of Nigeria football must therefore include a shake up of the NFA. The football body as presently constituted is incapable of lifting the nation’s soccer from the abyss of mediocrity and shame. This is why President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua must take more than passing interest not only in football adminitration but also in sports generally. Sport is big business. Football, like other major sports, is too important to be left in the hands of career civil servants. When was the last time a new star was discovered in sports like boxing, athletics, wrestling and other sports in which the nation showed promise at international level?
The Federal Government must bring in private individuals with passion for the game, seasoned ex-internationals to run our football and the National Sports Commission if Nigeria is to attain the kind of global acclaim the Kenyans and Ethiopians have attained in long distance race, the South Africans in Rugby and cricket and the Egyptians in continental soccer.
With the qualifiers for another edition of the Cup of Nations and the 2010 World Cup by the corner, time is really of the essence. To prevaricate at this point would only jeopardize the country’s participation in the forthcoming historic South Africa 2010.
So, the question of the team's technical crew needs to be resolved with dispatch. This should then be followed with appropriate friendly matches and the tracking of Nigeria's abundant soccer talents at home and abroad. This nation boasts of abundant football talents. Nigeria must thus be spared further ridicule.