The road to Rio (4)
He told a gathering of eminent media personalities in Lagos, while receiving his Coach of the Year Award from Matchmakers Consult, that he is getting the feeling of 1994 and that the spirit of 1994 is coming into the team! For those who are old enough to know what ‘the feeling of 1994’ means, it […]
He told a gathering of eminent media personalities in Lagos, while receiving his Coach of the Year Award from Matchmakers Consult, that he is getting the feeling of 1994 and that the spirit of 1994 is coming into the team!
For those who are old enough to know what ‘the feeling of 1994’ means, it is a great feeling, and it is a great revelation for those of us in administration who want our team to do well at the FIFA World Cup finals. I believe it is the same great feeling for our dear President, the Official Number One Supporter of all National Teams of Nigeria, as well as all lovers of Nigeria football everywhere.
A number of weeks ago, I had written about the fact that there is so much to compare between the present team and the Class of 1994 – still seen as the best assemblage that Nigeria has ever had on the field of play.
Just as this new team has done, winning the Africa Cup of Nations and traveling to the FIFA World Cup as champions of Africa, the Class of 1994 also won the Africa Cup of Nations.
While in the Class of 1994, there was a Peter Rufai, impregnable in goal and seen as the best in Africa, today we have Vincent Enyeama, also impregnable and solid between the sticks.
For those who doubt Enyeama’s abilities, please watch again the video of the Super Eagles’ first match at the FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa four years ago – in which he denied Lionel Messi more than a dozen times and won accolades from far and near. Since then, he has emerged perhaps the top goalkeeper in Africa, and in the just-ended season logged a superb record of unbeaten run in the French Ligue with his club, Lille FC.
Enyeama has remained one of the most assuring presences in the Super Eagles, and if you talk of experience (which Rufai also had in abundance in 1994), you have to think back of when Enyeama won his first cap. That was way back in May 2002, and even at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals a month later, he was thrown into the deep end against England in our final group phase game and acquitted himself brilliantly in a 0-0 draw.
The 1994 squad had Keshi himself, Chidi Nwanu and Uche Okechukwu in central defence, with Benedict Iroha at left back and Augustine Eguavoen at right back. Today, Godfrey Oboabona, Kenneth Omeruo, Joseph Yobo, Elderson Echiejile and Efe Ambrose give similar confidence.
I believe that Sunday Oliseh remains one of the greatest midfielders and passers of the ball to have come out of Nigeria. In the same vein, the vibrancy and creativity that Ogenyi Onazi brings to the set-up is amazing. Few years ago, he was also an U-17 lad, spending more time on the substitutes’ bench than on the field.
At the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa last year, he was superb. His go-go spirit, belief and energy helped the team greatly, coupled with his fabulous sense of humour. He makes the camp come alive.
He disrupts the flow of the opposition’s game by his timely interceptions and runs vigorously towards the other end to set up his strikers with opportunities. Who remembers the run that resulted in Sunday Mba’s winner against Cote d’Ivoire in the Cup of Nations quarter final?
In John Mikel Obi, Victor Moses, Ahmed Musa and Emmanuel Emenike, you can see images of Austin Okocha, Emmanuel Amuneke, Finidi George and Rashidi Yekini.
You may say that the present squad won the Africa Cup more than a year before the FIFA World Cup (unlike the 1994 team that won it two months to the World Cup), but the new boys played at the FIFA Confederations Cup tournament in-between (which the Class of 1994 did not).
All said and done, I believe that it is good that the spirit of 1994 is being felt in the camp now, just at the right time. And when we play Scotland at the Craven Cottage in London, on Wednesday, 28th May, we can all confirm that the spirit has indeed come around! Goodluck Nigeria!
Flying Eagles, Super Falcons must go all out…
Today at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, the U-20 National Team also known as Flying Eagles take on the Ngorongoro Heroes of Tanzania in the second leg of their 2015 African Youth Championship qualifying fixture, with our boys leading 2-0 from the first leg.
It looks like a mere formality but it is never over until it is over, and my charge to the boys is to go all out and play as if they lost the first leg away in Dar es Salaam.
Also this weekend, the Senior Women National Tea, Super Falcons take on their Rwandan counterparts in the first leg of their final qualifying fixture for the 2014 African Women Championship.
The Super Falcons know they have to invest all the energy and skill they have to earn a sweet win in the first leg away, in order to make the second leg much easier. Goals and more goals are what we need as the Falcons seek to return to the top of the African game.
Next Week: The Road To Rio (5)