Daily Independent (Lagos)
Julius Okorie
27 June 2009
Lagos — After successfully taken Nigeria to two impressive international outings - World Youth Championship in Holland 2005 and the Beijing Summer Olympics in China last year, Coach Samson Siasia has succeeded in creating a larger than life image for himself in the mind of most Nigerians.
The former international is not only seen as one of the most competant coaches in the country but he is even seen in some quarters as a messiah, cut out to achieve result no matter the odds.
Little wonder many did not hesitate to call on him to take over the embattled Super Eagles from Coach Shuiabu Amodu, who has continued to suffer migraine no thanks to the challenges of qualifying Super Eagles for South Africa 2010.
The thinking of Siasia's exponents is that his taking over would lead to restructuring the senior national team with a view to producing results, as younger players would get more responsibilities in the bargain. His knack for discipline as climaxed in his face-off with Chelsea midfielder, John Mikel Obi, ahead of Beijing 2008 indeed tickled the fancy of many, who believe that such discipline is needed to reawaken the zeal to serve in the national team.
This school of thought strongly believe that the country would not be in its present quagmire if the founder and proprietor of Abuja based Sia-One Academy had stepped in at the time he was saddled with the responsibility of taking Flying Eagles to Egypt.
In fact, tell some Siasia freaks to name a Nigerian coach, if any, that can be placed on the same pedestal with the special ones such as former Chelsea handler, Jose Mourinho, Arsenal's Arsene Wenger, Manchester United's Alex Fergusson they would not hesitate to mention the Bayelsa-born tactician, believing strongly in his ability to achieve.
However, those that see nothing wrong in what the Biblical Thomas, who insisted on seeing the mark of crucifixion on Christ before believing him, did maintain that Siasia is not a miracle worker. What he achieved in the past, they said, was because he followed the rules of competition, adequate preparation via friendly matches, conducive atmosphere for training, no compromise on players' welfare and effective utilisation of players taking into consideration their strong and weak points.
The former striker of FC Nantes of France appears to have given credence to this realistic submission when he recently expressed fears that Nigeria may hit Egypt for the FIFA U-2- World Cup ill prepared. His low tone lamentation reached feverish pitch recently when the planned friendly against Egypt was cancelled.
Prior to the cancellation, the team's planned participation in an invitational tournament in Malaysia, also hit the rocks no thanks to visa issuance.
The truth is that Siasia and his men have been relegated to the background in the past three months with the attention of the Glass House and indeed Nigerians shifted to the Super Eagles, a team that shot itself in the leg last weekend after pulling a goalless draw against group leader Tunisia in Rades.
But the former Julius Berger player is not one known to attend championships without adequate preparation. Part of his plans is to camp in Mallorca, Spain in August; about month to the event. The climatic condition in Spain at that time of the year, according to him, will be like that of Egypt, thus would serve as added advantage. "I have made the necessary arrangements for this camp. The weather in Spain in August will be the same with what we will encounter in Egypt the following month," he said.
Also on his agenda is a planned friendly with another Egypt bound team, U.S.
The big question is, how disposed in terms of following this programme en route to Egypt is the Glass House.
It would be recalled that on his way to Netherlands in 2005, Siasia had a head-on collusion with NFF when he dumped the federation and headed to his home state (Bayelsa) to seek financial assistance from the government of the state. It was believed that he did not want to fail and would not want any hanky-panky from the Glass House, so he went home to probably tell his state government that "it should not see the assignment as Siasia's but a responsibility dished out to test the ability of one of its sons".
And the government rose to the occasion after which he went, saw, conquered and everybody took the glory, though the Glass House regarded the development as a slap on its face.
A near scenario appears set to represent itself, with a big question on how committed is the Glass House to Siasia's plan for Egypt 2009 with just four months to go?
It is not as if the country lacks formidable opponents at the event. First round draw pitched Nigeria against Spain, Venezuela and Tahiti, with Siasia already identified Spain as a tough nut to crack.
"Spain will be the favourite in our group, but we will take all three teams very seriously. Our first two games against Venezuela and Tahiti will be very crucial. I expect a very tough tournament," Siasia said.
Former Green Eagles player, Yisa Sofoluwe, dubbed dean of defence during his days, said no matter how good a coach may be, he cannot deliver without adequate preparation. Sofoluwe, who recently led a crop of Under 17 players to show class at the Copa Cup in South Africa, added that the disappearance of minnows in football demands that every country that wants to excel should go the extra mile.
"Friendly matches are very important in preparation for championship like the forthcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt. You cannot afford to cut corners either because you want to save funds or other reasons because ultimately, it would show in the team's performance. Check the preparation of any team that emerges victorious at any meet and you will see that it embraced friendly matches because of the opportunity it presents for the coach to effectively assess his team, note the weak and strong points and even project how far the team can go," he said.
Nothing, he further said, should be spared in ensuring that junior teams in the country achieve excellent form before heading for international meet, as they are the hope of having a better senior national team in future.
"The future lies with these junior teams and the competition at that level is becoming more keen by the day. At the Copa Cup, it was not easy. The challenge was there and we rose to the occasion. I saw how the boys were playing and I predicted that we will get to the final and we did. Many of them were surprised and wondered how I knew we were going to make it to the final where we beat South Africa on Penalty. The more exposure you have at that level and indeed at every level, the greater your chances of achieving result," he said.
Former Chairman of Lagos State Football Association came hard on Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), insisting that the Glass House needs to buckle up if the country's teams are to make impact in international competitions. He frowned at the relegation of Flying Eagles as attention has been shifted to Super Eagles and its World Cup qualifiers.
"We need not relegate any team for the good of the other, they are both national teams and we are interested in all the competitions, so the Glass House needs to buckle up and position itself in such a way that every team gets necessary attention. It is because NFF has a problem of effectively doing its job that Presidential Task Force was set up. If it has been doing well nobody will think of setting up a task force, it is an indictment on NFF," he said.
Siasia, he added, is a good coach, but nobody should expect him to perform miracles if his programme ahead of Egypt 2009 is not followed.
As the team went on 10-day recess on Wednesday, Siasia, however, hinted that it is on the verge of getting back on track. "Yes the cancelled friendly was like going off track, but I can say we are on the verge of getting back on track.
"We will be heading to Qatar on July 8 for two weeks, after which we will go to Egypt for a four-nation tournament and then head for the competition proper on August 18," he added.
Everyone loves a story that ends well. Though Siasia may be one of the best in the country now and expectations in Egypt are high, many believe that the only way to ensure that he re-enacts or even surpass the achievement of Holland 2005 and Beijing 2008 is to ensure the team's programme is not sacrificed on the altar of exigencies.
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