2011: A year to forget
Football This outgoing year has been one of the country’s worst in terms of football results in recent memory as the country’s teams stumbled from one defeat to the other. The only notable football achievement by the country in the outgoing year would be to some extent the exploits of the national U20 team, the […]
Football
This outgoing year has been one of the country’s worst in terms of football results in recent memory as the country’s teams stumbled from one defeat to the other.
The only notable football achievement by the country in the outgoing year would be to some extent the exploits of the national U20 team, the Flying Eagles.
The Flying Eagles won the African Youth Championship in May in South Africa for a record sixth time, overcoming the likes of bitter rivals Ghana, Gambia and Cameroon on the way to glory. The victory ensured the coach John Obuh side qualified for the U20 World Cup in Colombia, where they reached the last eight of the competition only to lose 3-2 to France in a thrilling encounter.
Nicknamed the Dream Team V, the national U23 side put up a poor performance at the CAF U-23 Championship in Morocco, as they crashed out of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The team displayed one of the worst outings by any side from the country with an attack that lacked bite, a disco-ordinated midfield and a defence that buckled at the slightest threat.
After losing their first two group games to hosts Morocco and West African rivals Senegal, the team overwhelmed Algeria 4-1 in their final match but it was too little, too late as Senegal and Morocco advanced from the pool.
Six-time African champions Super Falcons dominance in the African women was first broken in 2008 when they first failed to win the African Women Championship in Equatorial Guinea. But they restored some confidence of sorts when they reclaimed the title last year in South Africa. However, the Nigerian team, dominated by ageing players, were dealt a huge blow by rivals Ghana and Cameroon, who stopped coach Eucharia Uche’s team from qualifying for the 2011 All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, and next year’s Olympic Games in London, respectively.
The Falcons ouster came as a rude shock to a fanatical football nation because the women were always there to put smiles on faces of millions of supporters when the men fail to impress. It was the first time the team failed to qualify for both competitions.
Charismatic Samson Siasia was in November 2010 appointed as Super Eagles coach amid huge expectations. However, the former Nigeria striker’s fairytale story ended on a sad note in October as he failed to steer the national team to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon next year. The Eagles needed a win over group leaders Guinea to qualify but instead they were held to a 2-2 draw in Abuja.
It was the first time in 25 years that Nigeria had failed to qualify for the Nations Cup.
After an acrimonious debate, Siasia, who lost control of his dressing room as well as the massive support of the fans, was axed and enter ‘Big Boss’ Stephen Keshi.
Two-time African champions Enyimba and Sunshine Stars raised the hopes of Nigerians in the continent’s club competitions reaching the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup, respectively.
Against FIFA statutes, Nigerian football was dragged to civil court that by the last count there were over 35 such cases against the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Domestically, the topflight witnessed the longest season ever in the country’s football history – running for 18months.
Amidst controversies surrounding last year’s NFF elections, a parallel body by the name “Nigerian Football Association” sprang up as the nation’s football continued to experience a decline.
Athletics
Nigeria went to Daegu, South Korea for the 13th edition of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in September ill-prepared. At the end of it all we drew blanks, capping yet again another woeful outing in the international arena. It had been over a decade since Nigeria won a medal at the World Championships.
While the country’s athletes fumbled at the world stage, Team Nigeria did well in athletics few weeks later in Maputo at the All Africa Games. Athletics – Track and Field – was Nigeria’s saving grace in Mozambique as the country finished third on the overall medals table, but losing its traditional number two spot on the medal log.
The 17th National Sports Festival held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State in June after several postponements was characterised by several anormalies such as cheating and widespread allegations of corruption.
During the year – on a more positive note, Beijing 2008 Olympic Games bronze medalist Blessing Okagbare won the Hungary Athletics Grand Prix long jump event in Budapest.
Tennis
The Nigerian team to the Africa Junior/Cadet Tennis Championship held in Cape Town South Africa last February failed to win any event and crashed out at the early stage of the championship. Nigerian players failed to impress at the Lagos Governor’s Cup as top stars Abdulmumini Babalola, Shehu Lawal and Candy Idoko made early exit from the tournament.
On the positive side, Nigeria came tops at the 34th African Junior Tennis Championship for 18, 16, 14 and under.
In February, Nigeria also emerged overall winner of the Junior International Tennis Federation and Confederation of Africa Tennis sponsored tournament organized for 12, 14 and under category.
The country’s team for the first time qualified for the Junior Davis Cup at a tournament held in Egypt. The Nigerian team won six gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal to achieve the feat.
Table Tennis
Nigerian table tennis has been buffeted by poor leadership and the lack of progress on developing players capable of the shoes to be vacated by his generation has been giving Toriola a migraine.
Team Nigeria won four gold at the Algiers 2007 All Africa Games, but managed to win two in Maputo as the emerging African powerhouse Egypt dominated the event.
Nigeria is struggling to regain her number one spot on the continent, as Egypt have since taken over from her with Congo moving fast to close the gap.
Golf
Except for the recently concluded President Cup held at the IBB International and Country Club, the Nigeria Cup at Ikoyi Golf Club and the October Otukpo Golf fiesta, the country’s golf sector would have gone without witnessing any Grade A event.
Equally, the country’s golfers could not be properly ranked as a result of the lack of local competitions that would have provided an avenue for Nigeria Golf Federation (NGF) to rank the country’s golfers.
Cricket
Nigeria improved on world ranking, rising to number 37 in the ICC One Day International (ODI) rankings. The country also moved to fifth position in the continent; while Nigeria is ranked 7th in the U-17 category. The country also won the ICC Africa APL T20 Division 2 trophy in South Africa to gain promotion to the ICC Africa APL T20 Division 1.
On the negative side, Nigeria was demoted to seven at the World Cricket League Division Six in Kuala Lumpur in September.
Handball
There has been remarkable improvement in handball with the re-introduction of the national handball league, but at the international level the sport is still prostate and begging for exposure.
At the last edition of the All Africa Games held in Algeria, the country’s male team lost two matches and failed to go beyond the group stages after placing third in Pool B. The female team however lost out to Angola in the quarter final stage after placing second in Pool B by winning two game and a loss. It was a similar scenario at Maputo 2011. The woeful outing at the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo, was heralded by a huge call for the resignation of the handball federation chiefs.
Nigeria however hosted the 33rd African Handball Club Championship in Kaduna and four of its representatives returned home empty handed.
Zamalek of Egypt won the male event, beating defending champions Etoile de Sahel of Tunisia, while Petro de Luanda defeated another Luandan side Primero de Luanda to claim the female event.
Basketball
2011 was a year of mixed blessings for basketball. So many lows, but with few highs. The biggest disappointment was D’ Tigers inability to conquer Africa and pick automatic ticket for 2012 London Olympics.
They clinched the third position at the 26th Africa Nations Cup held in Antananarivo, Madagascar. Both the male and female junior teams under-performed in their respective tournaments. The First Bank female basketball team also performed poorly and failed to retain the African title at the continental club level. Similarly, the men’s club basketball teams, Union Bank and First Deepwater were outplayed and beaten by teams from the continent in the African Club Championship.