Abuja — No doubt, there is yet to be a weekend in Nigerian football history in recent times comparable to last weekend. It was one 'blessed' weekend that saw seeminly impossibile situation turned to possibility. It was a weekend that God answered the prayers of teeming Nigerian football passionate fans.
It was one that Nigerians saw the finger of God in his miraculous way of turning things around for good in the activities of those who cry unto him with a true heart. It was one weekend that had it not turned out to be the way it did, hell would have broken loose and the result would have to say the least, been catastrophic.On the night before the departure of the Super Eagles to Nairobi, one man who is at the centre of it all, president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Sani Abdullahi Lulu, knowing the consequence of the turn of events upon non-qualification, cried to God to give Nigerians the day and vindicate him of the impending shame. And God, who listens and weighs and searches the hearts of men listened. On the night before the Super Eagles clashed with Harambee of Kenya, every one involved in the Super Eagles project turned to God for divine intervention.
Shortly before departure Lulu had christened the encounter. It meant many things. It meant among other reasons, a weekend in Nigerian football that would open us up for reality checks, soul searching and most importantly, some unavoidable shake ups.From all we could see, we did not qualify because we were the best in the group. But simply got the ticket on the mercy of God. Tunisia was better prepared, more organised and hungry for the ticket. And many, including Nigerians, still harbor the thought that they deserve the ticket at our expense, but no one can question the acts of the almighty.Perhaps, God gave us the ticket because authorities concerned had signified interest of putting things in proper shape. And Nigerians cannot wait to see some changes. First, shortly after booking a place in South Africa next year, opinions sampled about the team had been in varied proportion, with more however, critical about the technical crew led by Shaibu Amodu.Many claim although Lulu and his team may have temporarily pacified Nigerians by grabbing the lone slot from Group B, another area they must have to contend with and carefully for that matter, will be what to do with Shaibu Amodu and his crew.
Already, more Nigerians believe Amodu and his crew have done their best but others are still of the opinion that a foreign coach can be contracted to complement his effort as we march towards the Nations Cup and the World Cup proper. For the group, who form the majority, Lulu and his group shall have no rest until something is done about Amodu. And to them, Lulu and the NFF must not be stubborn about this. The second aspect that shaped last weekend was the verdict declared by FIFA President, Sepp Blatter who spoke in a press conference in Abuja to precede the grand finale. Blatter rubbished the brouhaha over age cheating in the Eaglets camp. He said as far as he is concerned, no Nigerian player is over-aged based on the MRI test conducted for the 24 teams. Blatter said if FIFA has certified players on their ages, of what use is the position of local press in continuos accusation?Then the grand finale of the U-17 World Cup, where the Golden Eaglets made an impression as the first host nation to play in the final. The Golden Eaglets though lost in the process of making another history, did well to play in the enviable final.
They should be celebrated.John Obuh and his boys should be honoured for their exploits, many fans never gave them any chance but they did their best. For years to come, John Obuh who many of us gave no chance made a mark last night. It was a weekend that also saw the return of fans to the massive National Stadium Abuja. After the September 6 world cup qualifier clash against Tunisia, where an unprecedented capacity crowd turned out en-mass to cheer the Super Eagles to victory but left disappointed on the account of the painful draw, football fans had turned their backs on Nigerian football teams. But last weekend the scenario changed. As early as 12pm yesterday, fans began to troop into the stadium in readiness for the epic final of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The performance of the Eagles in far away Nairobi also gave the fans some relief. Apart from the September 6 crowd outcome, last night was an impressive turnout. The lesson in this is that performance is tied to crowd turnout. Football fans mean to say that they do not need cajoling to come out in support of a performing side. On the other hand, there is every need to develop the culture of fanship in respective of teams performance like experienced around the globe, where spectators cheer their teams even in defeat.
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The mob action is what is killing the country. We want gains without pains. What if we had played the Kenya away match first and Tunisia had lost to Mozambique in their first match? Nigeria would simply have led the group from day one and no one would have complained about amodu. Here is a man who hasn't lost a match. Did someone say Westerhoff? Isn't that a man who single-handedly prevent Nigeria from qualifying for the 1990 World Cup after altering the team in his very first game in charge? Subsequently th team went on to lose 0-1 in Cameroun in the last match of the qualifiers (his first match in charge) when we needed only a draw to qualify!!! A man who abandoned the Eagles shamefully in USA after a second round exit with 2 minutes to play against Italy,eventual runners up... Imagine where we would have gone if we won Italy. We would have gone on to defeat spain and be in the semis at least. So today, you blame Amodu for conceeding quick and late goals against Tunisia. Is he the players? Would he have entered the pitch? How can he shout himself hoarse in 2 minutes when the 'Eagles' were clustering aound each other when Osaze scored the first against Tunisia? Or the loss of concentration that led to the 2nd equalizer? Let us be objective and reasonable. I do not know Shuaibu at all but I think he is our best local material and should be left in charge. No foeigner would take us to our promised land. Westerhoff got all the time he needed to fail and pass. we praise him today, yet all he did was only to bungle a World Cup qualification ticket, got the next on the last day of the qualifiers(just like Amodu now) by playing an away draw, got a Nations Cup Silver and bronze before getting gold...remember we needed the lottery of penalties to win aagainst defending champs Ivory Coast in the SemiFinals.Surely, we could have been liminated there and Clemens would never had got any trophy. So what is all the nose about Westerhoff? Where else did he succeed outside Nigeria? Didn't he coach other countries? Zimbabwe for example? Rubbish!!! is the Kwara academy a national team? Why isn't he sought by national teams today if he is that good. He has been without a national assignment for nearly 10 years! Yet human beings are clamouring for such a moribund coach! Or are we talking about hiring another Berti Vogts? Let's get thinking!
I certainly agree with Mr. Tunde.Except for a few obvious typographical errors and a lot of passion and emotions, his position is clear, appropriate, pellucid and surely one I agree with.