Is Asia now our soccer gold mine? We won our three Under 17 World Cups there from China '85 to Japan '93 and now Korea 2007. But one can only say that of the Under 17 category for it was in the same Asia (Korea-Japan 2002) that we recorded our worst World Cup finals performance, losing out in the first round.

But that is not the issue that is of great concern to me now. While I celebrate the success of our team in Korea, I still entertain some fears. It all has to do with the realities on ground.

Luis Figo was once crowned World Footballer of the year. He is now at Inter and still playing today. And so are the likes of Jao Pinto and Rui Costa who were in the 1989 World Youth Soccer Championship. Nobody in the Nigerian squad that played in the final against Portugal is still playing. In fact, the only one that played real football from that squad retired about four years ago. And he was able to hang in for so long(by Nigerian standard) because of his discipline. I am referring to Mutiu Adepoju, the Headmaster of Nigerian football.

Brazilian Ronaldo is a two time World Footballer of the year. He played in Nigeria here at Nigeria '99. How many Nigerian players who played in Nigerian '99 are still playing? It pains that when our players are playing in age group competitions, most of them are in their peak. After watching Nigeria in China '85 and Canada '87, great Pele predicted that Nigeria was going to win the World Cup in about ten years from then.

Logically, he was right. If you went by the kind of soccer those two squads played, you would have same assumption with Pele. But we know the truth. Most of those guys had played their best football at that "youth" level. Was that normal? Pele did not understand. And until we face the truth and do the right thing, we would continue to shine at the youth level and continue to fumble at the senior level.

It is interesting to note that the world is noting our gimmicks. I have heard stories of some European coaches asking our players their real ages and laughing it off when the players insist on what is in their passports. But that is not to take a few things away from the team that played in Korea. Many of our senior sides lack the kind of organisation the boys in Korea showed. They defended well, they were creative in the midfield and their attacking runs and sometimes finishing were to precision. They had finesse and exhibited signs of good coaching they enjoyed.

I was proud of them throughout their exploits in Korea. I give kudos to the coaches especially Ben Iroha whom we all knew was the real McCoy in the team.

I have been campaigning for the new generation coaches to take over our teams. I mean those who played professionally in Europe although there are still some other ones whom we can respect. That's why I fought for Siasia, Shoromu and a few others to return and take up jobs. I have always known that, with them, we have a brighter future.

If only NFA can listen and respect professional advices, we would be advancing. If we had any of our exposed coaches in Canada during the World Youth Championship, we would have done better than what Laddan Bosso offered. But that is in the past now. I only hope that our guys in NFA learn fast on technical matters and address them accordingly. I was actually in touch with them before our team left for Korea.

But after discussing with them I found out about some messy matter and I cried out. But to be fair to Sani Lulu and Taiwo Ogunjobi they really appreciated my fears and promised to handle the matter well. I am sure they did. I congratulate them. I congratulate the boys for being such a magnificent unit. I only hope that five to ten years from now, many of the players in the team will still be playing top class football as their Spanish counterparts will surely be doing. Will they? That is my fear.

TAKE A BOW EFCC, ABDULRAHAMAN

Only two seasons ago, I sat with Nuhu Ribadu, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission chairman and my friend Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq who actually took me to Ribadu's office. Ribadu has passion for football and wanted a football club that would act as the PR arm of the crime commission. This gave birth to FC Abuja. I played a prominent role in establishing the club. In fact, I had to take my leave to supervise screening of players, their recruitment and hiring of Moses Kpakor as the first coach of the club. Abdulrahaman was deep into this and is the club chairman. He involved me.

I worked hours and days to set up the club and after our first league match which we won, I withdrew, proudly returned to Lagos to continue my job as I felt that some foundation had been laid. . I have for long distanced myself from the club after some feeling of satisfaction; that I have done my beat. It was another opportunity to serve the country on football matters.

I say this with pride for I was not paid a dime for the job I did. I did it for football. That season, FC Abuja won the Federal Capital Territory FA Cup and defended it last season. After the first season, Ben Iroha was engaged to tinker the club. He did a brilliant job, just like Kpakor tried to do too. But we are in Nigeria and there are things you do to support whatever good play you think players can display. It is partly what is killing our football. EFCC, the owners of FC Abuja would not offer gratification to anybody to win matches. They have to practice what they preach. And because FC Abuja do not offer referees bribe, the men in black deal with them at home and away matches. That's largely why they have not gained promotion to the Premiership today. However, I must confess that there have also been administrative problems too.

But generally, EFCC has done well with FC Abuja. The club has produced the winner of Highest Goal Scorer Award in the just concluded Under 17 World Cup in Korea. Macauley Chrisantus plays for FC Abuja but after his exploits in Korea, we know that we would lose him. The club can only expect to make money from his transfer. EFCC must take some credit for the feat Nigeria achieved in Korea.

Their coach, Ben Iroha is the pillar behind Under 17 team. Apart from Chrisantus another FC Abuja player in the team is Usman Amodu. They have all done well. I see in Chrisantus another Rashidi Yekini if only he will keep his head. Abdulrahaman should be proud of his boys and Nuhu Ribadu should be encouraged to do more for Nigerian football. The way referees have handled their matches leaves much to be desired. And for me, I'm still not satisfied that FC Abuja have not won promotion to the Premiership the magic from referees notwithstanding. I know that they have the potential to do better. For now, Chrisantus is worth celebrating and I must ask Ribadu and Abdulrahaman to take a bow.

That Warri match!

We had time to discuss the Nigeria - Lesotho match with Nwankwo Kanu after the game.

The Eagles captain had said so many beautiful things about their Peter King Guest House, the general hospitality of Delta State government and their people, the beautiful Warri Stadium, the organisation of the match and the team's desire to be playing matches in Warri. His views did not change after the match in spite of the difficulties they had knocking the ball around at half time due to the heavy rains. Questions arose on the drainage system of the pitch Supersport's Greg described as "the kind of thing we see in the Premiership."

Kanu said that "the rain was so heavy and consistent that it(water logging) could have happened on any good pitch even in Europe." Kanu added that "if it was on other pitches in Nigeria, it would have been worst than what we experienced."

Chief Solomon Ogba who headed the committee that organised the match said that those who watched the match on television might not have appreciated the consistency of the torrential rain.

"Before the game started, the rain was very heavy but it stopped for few minutes and the pitch had no pool of water. Everywhere got drained. But at half time, it started again and it was non stop, not even for a minute. That was why we had water on the pitch and even at that, you all saw how clean the players were. No muds on them even in the heavy rains. That explains the good nature of the grassing of the pitch. I am happy the organisation has been commended by everybody and I thank all those who helped to make the match a huge success," Ogba said as the discussion went on.