VERY few Nigerian football fans will want to admit it but the calibre of players we currently have in the national team, are simply not good enough to reach the dizzy heights the Super Eagles soared to in the 1990s. No matter how much we deny the stark reality of our current plight, the fact remains that we have a talent dearth at the moment.

Between 1994 and 1998, the Super Eagles were a global brand that entertained the world with some of the best football the beautiful game had ever seen. At two World Cups and the Atlanta Olympic games, the rest of the world marvelled at the finesse with which our boys caressed that round leather object.

Nobody could fathom how Africa, reputed to be a continent of war, famine, hunger, corruption and dictators could produce such a well-oiled machine that could take on the rest of the world. Not only was our play a delight to watch but we also produced some of the most talented players to ever strut their stuff on the green grass.

Players like Rufai (in 1994), Oliseh, Taribo, Okocha, Finidi, Kanu, Babayaro, Yekini and Amokachi left those who considered Africa a hopeless basket-case speechless. It is no surprise that the antics of the Eagles in those four years led to rush for African players by European clubs and at the organisational level, our 1994 displays led to Fifa increasing Africa’s representation at the World Cup to five from three.

Today, we all look back to that golden era with nostalgia as we lament over the pathetic team we currently have. Back in the 1990s, teams like Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali and Benin Republic were beaten by as many goals as our boys chose to put past them, but today, they humiliate us.

At the time, few people appreciated the magnitude of the job Clemence Westerhoff did when he dismantled the team he inherited from Paul Hamilton. Out went all the average players and in came a crop of fresh-faced youngsters. Having above-average talent was a compulsory prerequisite for getting into the team.

With the 2010 World Cup qualifiers looming, I for one am scratching my head looking for a Westerhoff-type reorganisation that will dismantle the shambolic team that disgraced us in Ghana but alas, nothing is happening. Having seen the 27-man squad Amodu Shaibu has announced for his friendly against Austria, it is clear that we have not yet learnt anything from our recent failures.

Not only has Amodu shown a despicable amount of cowardice by failing to retire the members of the old guard, he has also failed to learn anything from the Ghana 08 disgrace. Anyone who watched the team could tell that there were several players who were no more than average and incapable of taking the Eagles to new heights but guess that? Amodu has still picked them.

To add insult to injury, Amodu has included the likes of Kayode Odejayi, who plays in the English Championship. Anyone who thinks we will win any silverware with this collection of average players is not only severely deluded but is living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

As our team stands, it will take a miracle of biblical proportions for us to win the 2010 African Cup of Nations and another major marvel for us to qualify for the World Cup. Up until two years ago, I really believed that Nigeria would win the first World Cup ever hosted in Africa but now I have all but conceded that this is impossible.

If Amodu had come in and weeded out the old guard and brought in above-average talent such as the boys in Yemi Tella’s U-17 World Cup winning squad, I would be a bit more optimistic. As things stand, however, things are looking bleak.

Is Amodu really trying to tell me that he cannot see the talent in the likes of Rabiu Ibrahim, Kingsley Udoh, Mustapha Ibrahim, Chrisantus MaCauley, Oladapo Olufemi, Efe Ambrose and Ademola Rafael? Other youngsters he should be calling up should include the likes of Elliot Omosuzi, Uche Kalu and Efosa Eguakun.

As we saw with Father Tiko in 1974, he dismantled the 1973 All African Games gold winning team and replaced the ageing stars with kids from the 1975 National Sports Festival. Players like Odegbami, Amesiemeka, Odiye, Usiyen, Chukwu, Atuegbu, Iwelumo and Lawal were barely out of secondary school when they donned Nigeria’s green-white-green.

In the run up to the 1980 African Cup of Nations, Otto Gloria did likewise, replacing the veterans with fresh faces like Syllvanus Okpala, Okey Isima, Ifeanyi Onyeadika, Henry Nwosu, John Orlando, Tunde Bamidele and David Adiele. I want to know if Amodu has got the bottle to be this brave.

If Amodu is serious about leaving a lasting legacy, he not only has to show the guts to drop players who are passed their peak but he also has to be prepared to search for replacements. In a nation of 140m people, I am sure that there we have 11 Okochas somewhere in our midst who just need finding.

I am willing to bet that in some dusty village in Kebbi State or in some fishing village on an island somewhere in Bayelsa State, there are Nigerian footballers better than Okocha and Taribo. Is Amodu willing to go in search of them, groom them and gradually introduce them into the national team?

For one minute, I do not believe that the 1994 to 1998 era was a one-off miracle. What happened then was that in Westerhoff, we had a coach who was prepared to go and search for talent for his team.

If we have a coach who is prepared to do likewise, we will easily produce another golden batch of world class players. Why did death have to snatch Yemi Tella from us at the time when Nigeria needed him most?

Coach Tella went out of his way to find good players and in the process put together an U17 team that can only be rivalled by the 1993 squad that included Kanu, Babayaro, Oruma, et al. Tella did not just sit down in Lagos, he got off his backside and toured Nigeria in search of hidden talent.

If Amodu Shaibu is not prepared to do that, he might as well quit now because I can tell him straight up that unless he goes in search of quality talent, he will fail woefully. The law of averages will indicate that among140m people, you will easily find 23 world class people but the law of laziness also tells us that such talent does not fall into your lap like manna from heaven.

Countries like Brazil, Argentina, Germany, etc have shown a consistency in world football because they have paid a lot of attention to forward planning and nurturing. In an ideal world, the Nigerian Football Association (NFA) would have a programme that makes it easy to monitor talent automatically but alas, we all know what kind of FA we have.

It is pointless criticising the NFA when we all know that nothing will come of it. I would rather the coach by-passes the FA and gets on with his job. Westerhoff succeeded despite the NFA, not because of the NFA.

If Amodu wants to become the first local coach to win a Nations Cup, he has to start work now. Get rid of the old guard and replace them with talent. If our brilliant youngsters start playing with the big boys now, by 2010, they will be ready for anyone.

Robot  Villager

# 1 VERY few Nigerian fo...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 04.05.2008 22:29

Olamide  Villager

# 2 Those were days when the big teams and their coaches used to consult their babalawos, Alfas, Imams, Pastors and call for national prayers when they are facing the former Super Eagles. As an ardent football lover and a die-hard supporter of the national teams, I have lost hopes of seeing the replication of our feats in the 1990s and have resigned myself to the fall from grace to grass. Imagine Benin Republic troubling the teams we had in 1994 or 1996? they would have conveniently spelt "Benin Republic" without breaking sweat. The problem we have is that our players have become overweight, overpaid, over-pampered and less patriotic than the former teams. Imagine Yakub Ayegbeni moving around the field like a 'Madam' serving food in a local restaurant when he was supposed to be re-enacting the form that has seen him banged in goal after goal for EVerton? I was ashamed to say the least. The corruption in the selection of the team is another factor. It is an open secret that some players 'settle' (to borrow a popular Nigeria Police slang) the coaches to be invited to the team and that there are cliques and Mafias in the teams that determines who can or cannot play. The poverty of the coaches is another issue. How much is Amodu going to be earning to be able to stare down say, Obafemi Martins who earns 65,000 Pounds Sterling per week? Can the Coach afford not to collect a gift of 10,000 Pounds from a player? No! Federal Character and the ridiculous extent to which we have carried its implementation in Nigeria is another issue. Why must all the regions be represented if they are not good enough to be on the team? I don't care if the whole team come from a single compound in Abia or Sokoto states as long as they win trophies and make us proud. It is high time we removed the Federal Character nonsense from the national teams if we want them to perform. Meanwhile, all lovers of the Super Eagles are downcast. Posted by Olamide| 05.05.2008 04:37

Olamide  Villager

# 3 Those were days when the big teams and their coaches used to consult their babalawos, Alfas, Imams, Pastors and call for national prayers when they are facing the former Super Eagles. As an ardent football lover and a die-hard supporter of the national teams, I have lost hopes of seeing the replication of our feats in the 1990s and have resigned myself to the fall from grace to grass. Imagine Benin Republic troubling the teams we had in 1994 or 1996? they would have conveniently spelt "Benin Republic" without breaking sweat. The problem we have is that our players have become overweight, overpaid, over-pampered and less patriotic than the former teams. Imagine Yakubu Ayegbeni moving around the field like a 'Madam' serving food in a local restaurant when he was supposed to be re-enacting the form that has seen him banged in goal after goal for EVerton? I was ashamed to say the least. The corruption in the selection of the team is another factor. It is an open secret that some players 'settle' (to borrow a popular Nigeria Police slang) the coaches to be invited to the team and that there are cliques and Mafias in the teams that determines who can or cannot play. The poverty of the coaches is another issue. How much is Amodu going to be earning to be able to stare down say, Obafemi Martins who earns 65,000 Pounds Sterling per week? Can the Coach afford not to collect a gift of 10,000 Pounds from a player? No! Federal Character and the ridiculous extent to which we have carried its implementation in Nigeria is another issue. Why must all the regions be represented if they are not good enough to be on the team? I don't care if the whole team come from a single compound in Abia or Sokoto states as long as they win trophies and make us proud. It is high time we remove the Federal Character nonsense from the national teams if we want them to perform. Meanwhile, all lovers of the Super Eagles are downcast. Posted by Olamide| 05.05.2008 04:38