Rewind to the 1990s, and you will agree with me that it is unthinkable that the Super Eagles will be in a World Cup qualifying group with South Africa, Lesotho, Rwanda, Benin Republic, and Zimbabwe and they will be struggling.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
Fast forward to 2024, the Eagles, rechristened Super Eagles by Sani Abacha because they were a dominant force in global football in the 1990s, are today not even a dominant force in Africa.
In a group with these football minions, the Eagles are fifth on the log with three points, all 1-1 draws from three matches against Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
Two of the three draws were even played at home.
As it stands now, Lesotho leads the group with five points from three matches.
Second on the log is Rwanda with four points, third is Benin Republic also with four points, South Africa our fiercest opponent in the group also has four points, they are fourth on the log.
We are only better than Zimbabwe who are sixth with two points from three matches.
After Jose Peseiro failed in the first two matches against Lesotho and Zimbabwe and his contract was not renewed, we had so much hope of winning with a new coach Finidi George, and a ‘new team’ going into Friday’s night match against South Africa.
But our hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup to be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States soon turned into despair as the match ended 1-1 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.
Themba Zwane silenced the Uyo fans just before the half-hour mark when he skipped past two defenders Semi Ajayi and Calvin Bassey before firing a low drive past Stanley Nwabali in goal.
But Fisayo Dele-Bashiru drew the Eagles level with a fantastic finish, 37 seconds after the half-time break.
Nigeria started brightly and could have taken the lead as early as the third minute, but Paul Onuachu failed to direct his header goalwards.
In the eighth minute, it was Ademola Lookman who missed the target from the edge of the box.
Teboho Mokoena’s free kick in the 16th minute brushed against the crossbar with the Super Eagles goalkeeper stranded.
Nigerians can blame the players and coaches from now till eternal but nothing will change until our best start running our football and sports generally.
Modern football is played in the office and not on the field but our football administrators are inept.
The Super Eagles will play again on Monday against the Benin Republic in Cote d’Ivoire, a country with a huge population of Nigerians and Nigeria-born Ivorians.
Knowledgeable and wise football administrators would have started mobilizing Nigerians in that country to come to the stadium in their thousands to support the Super Eagles a month before Monday’s match.
But I am positive that Ibrahim Gusau, the NFF president, and Mohammed Sanusi, the General Secretary may not even be aware of the above and they are aware they are thinking about it.
Just as the best clubs in our football league fail annually in the Caf Champions League the Super Eagles may fail to qualify for the next World Cup unless we engage thinkers to execute a strategic plan that will ensure our qualification.