Eagles dispirited as Confed Cup begins

The Eagles are in group B along with reigning World and European Champions, Spain, CONCACAF Champions, Mexico and the Oceania representatives, Tahiti. As earlier stated, this is a big stage for the Eagles to completely erase all doubts about their new found form.Unfortunately, the Eagles arrived in Brazil to compete in the Confederation Cup somewhat […]

The Eagles are in group B along with reigning World and European Champions, Spain, CONCACAF Champions, Mexico and the Oceania representatives, Tahiti. As earlier stated, this is a big stage for the Eagles to completely erase all doubts about their new found form.
Unfortunately, the Eagles arrived in Brazil to compete in the Confederation Cup somewhat rattled after some far from convincing displays but still hopeful of causing a surprise.
Africa’s representatives at the eight-team tournament, which pits continental champions against each other over the next two weeks, have shown patchy form since they surprisingly won the African Nations Cup in February with an inexperienced squad devoid of many of their major exports to the European leagues.
In four matches since their success in Johannesburg, Super Eagles have drawn three and won just once – a last gasp triumph against Kenya earlier this month in a World Cup qualifier.
On Wednesday night they needed another late goal, from a generously awarded free kick, to force a 1-1 draw against lowly Namibia and stay on course to qualify for next year’s finals.
The draw, though, again raises questions over the Super Eagles chances at the Confederation Cup, where they start with a supposedly easy game against Tahiti in Belo Horizonte on Monday but then meet both Uruguay and Spain in their next group games.
But Captain Vincent Enyeama said on Thursday, as the team left Windhoek for Rio de Janeiro, they had come up against a spirited opponent.
“You have to give credit to the way Namibia played and the saves (by) their goalkeeper but also look at the fact we had our chances earlier on to finish off the game. We’ve now got to put this result behind us,” he told Reuters.
Coach Stephen Keshi was heavily criticised for ignoring the likes of Peter Odemwingie, Taye Taiwo and Obafemi Martins in his selections last year. But after success at the tournament in South Africa he has leeway to continue with a policy of picking younger players he feels are hungrier and more committed to the team.
But their enthusiasm is not matched by much experience, with only midfielder John Obi Mikel having any international profile. They were frequently exposed on Wednesday by the pace of the lowly-ranked Namibians and were fortunate to escape with a face-saving draw.
Former Nigeria coach Shaibu Amidu, watching the game in Windhoek, said the Super Eagles always found it hard against plucky opponents with nothing to lose.
“In Africa everyone wants to beat Nigeria,” he said.
“But you will see at the Confederations Cup a Nigerian side that will lift itself almost in the same way. Our boys like a big stage to perform on.”
Such is the confidence exuded by the former handler of the team but the problems of Eagles are now compounded by NFF’s inability to sustain the jumbo bonuses the players are used to getting from the federation.
It is an open secret that the football federation is broke and is only managing to run all the national teams. It is said even in Nairobi, the team staged a protest as they demanded for $10,000.00 winning bonus to be paid to them.
The players reportedly staged another protest in Windhoek on Thursday as they pressed for a winning bonus of $5,000.00 after playing a 1-1 draw against the Brave Warriors. The team did not fly out of Namibia as scheduled because the players refused to board the plane that was to convey them to South Africa from where they were to take a connecting flight to Brazil. They insisted on being paid $5,000.00 winning bonus.
Even as the Eagles did not land in Brazil with the kind of spirit that is needed for a championship of this magnitude, some fans are still confident that the Eagles will put up a good show. Former international, Barnabas Imenger told Weekly Trust that Eagles are good at flying high when they are not given a chance.
“I agree with those who feel the Eagles needed victory over Namibia to reach Brazil in high spirit but let us not forget that the team is good at springing surprises. When nobody gave them a chance in South Africa, they returned home with the trophy.
“In Brazil, they are going to meet a bigger stage but that is where they will like to prove that they are worthy champions of the continent of Africa. I want us to rally round the team in our prayers for them to have a good outing”.
Imenger also said Keshi should not shy away from giving some of the new names in the team the opportunity to play. “If he did not give opportunity to players like Godfrey Obaobana, Kenneth Omeruo, Sunday Mba and Onazi Ogenyi, we wouldn’t be talking about these new kids on the block”, he said.
Apart from the low spirit caused by unsatisfactory performance against Namibia and financial crisis, the Eagles would be without some of their key players like Chelsea star, Victor Moses, Emmanuel Emenike and Kalu Uche for the Confederation Cup. And as at time of press, it was not yet clear if Lazio’s kid sensation, Onazi Ogenyi who got a knock in the game against Namibia would recover in time to be part of the showpiece in Brazil. If he does not make it, his absence in the mid-field would be felt substantially.