Expectations for November & December (1)
Indeed, it is a long time that a National Team of Nigeria so whiplashed an opposing host nation in a competitive match, apart from the Golden Eaglets’ own 4-1 defeat of Niger Republic in Niamey in the previous round of this same qualifying race. Another 6-0 pounding of the Nigeriens in Calabar meant a 10-1 […]
Indeed, it is a long time that a National Team of Nigeria so whiplashed an opposing host nation in a competitive match, apart from the Golden Eaglets’ own 4-1 defeat of Niger Republic in Niamey in the previous round of this same qualifying race. Another 6-0 pounding of the Nigeriens in Calabar meant a 10-1 aggregate win (can’t remember when last a Nigerian team achieved such a mammoth win over two legs), while the 4-0 win in Conakry meant a 7-0 aggregate over the Guineans.
No doubt, the Golden Eaglets’ Class of 2012 has shown a lot of promise and potential, and the Nigeria Football Federation will do everything necessary to ensure continued improvement of the team and close monitoring in order that the players can graduate to the next level, and keep graduating until it gets to Super Eagles.
Surely, it is a long time now that the Nigeria Football Federation has been put able to put together a team with such potency and power. When the team was winning friendly matches, I was not particularly thrilled, as it never meant much. But the 5-0 and 3-0 whacking of visiting Rwanda U-17 Team in a two-match friendly in Calabar stoked my interest, and when the boys smashed Niger in Niamey, I became much more interested.
Even before the 7-0 dismissal of Guinea, I became fully converted and the way the team is playing, I don’t see Mali providing any serious obstacle on the road to Morocco. And the Golden Eaglets will be golden again over two legs against the Malians on 18th November and 2nd December.
Only 24 hours after Eaglets’ delightful win in Conakry, the Super Falcons set off on a high towards retaining the African Women Championship with a very sweet 2-1 win over Cameroon in Bata.
I must commend the Falcons for this very important win, particularly considering the odds against the team even before the commencement of the tournament. While travelling from Ghana to Malabo and then to Bata, a whole carton of jerseys went missing, and the team was made to stay several hours at the Malabo Airport because the organizers could not put their act together.
The night trip to Bata was made even more tiring by poor reception in that city, and made more demoralizing by accommodation in a sub-standard hotel.
The day of the match, heavy rain made nonsense of the pitch of Nkoantoma Stadium and the waterlogged turf made excellent play impossible. Yet, our Falcons rose above the adversities and put the Cameroonians where they truly belong.
I was in South Africa two years ago when the Falcons turned back the Lionesses 4-0 in the semi final on our girls’ road to the trophy. The circumstances that led to our losing the London 2012 Olympic Games’ ticket to the Cameroonians on penalties in Yaounde were befuddling.
But the win in Bata on Monday, which could really have been higher if not for the atrocious conditions, puts matters in proper perspective.
It is important to add here that among our major priorities for these last two months of the year is the retention of the African Women Championship trophy (some people have called it ‘Falcons going for seventh heaven’) as well as the Golden Eaglets’ qualification for the 2013 African U-17 Championship in Morocco.
It is crucial to get the fine-playing Golden Eaglets into the African U-17 Championship in order that the team can continue its development at a major competition. While competitions are not necessarily the forum to ferment, they provide the furnace that helps with the fine finishing for a team with promise.
Qualification for the African U-17 Championship will also mean a return to the event that our boys have won a number of times, but from which they have been missing for the past two editions. The 2008 Class lost out to Benin Republic over two legs and only played in the 2009
FIFA U-17 World Cup because Nigeria happened to be the host nation.
Two years ago, the squad coached by Monday Odigie lost out to Congo Brazzaville.
As for the Falcons, retaining the African Women Championship title will confirm that despite absence from the Women’s Football Tournament of the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo and the Women’s Football Tournament of the London 2012 Olympics, Nigeria is still the supreme
power of women’s football in the African continent.
While it is true that other countries are now investing in the women’s game and making progress steadily, Nigeria remains the biggest investor in the women’s game in Africa and our pedigree in the universe is not in question.
In order that we can continue to dominate the women’s game, our focus now centres on ‘Train-The-Trainers’ programmes, to help our Coaches improve rapidly and with stay within touch of modern tactics and techniques of the game. The first-ever FIFA Women Football Coaching
Seminar which ended in Abuja last week is testament.
Once we are able to retain the African Women Championship (final match is in Malabo on Sunday, 11th November 2012), and the Golden Eaglets are able to pick the ticket to Morocco for the African U-17 Championship in April 2013, the NFF machinery will move to organize
the 2012 Annual General Assembly.
There has been a lot of debate and arguments here and there about the venue of the 2012 Annual General Assembly. It is good that it should generate such interest. However, the confirmation of a host city will be made in a matter of days.
The next big one will be the preparation of the Super Eagles ahead of the 29th Africa Cup of Nations finals coming up in the Republic of South Africa, between 19th January – 10th February, 2013.
Already, the home boys are heading to camp for the international friendly against Venezuela in Miami, Florida, USA on Wednesday, 14th November. The boys based abroad will join the delegation in Miami, flying from their different bases overseas.
Questions have been asked on why the team is playing Venezuela when it is going for the Africa Cup of Nations. But nations don’t restrict their Opposition Pot to only countries in their continent when they are heading to continental finals.
Questions have also been asked on where the final training camp will take place. The truth is, nothing is cast in stone yet. The Technical Committee will sit down with the Head Coach and make their recommendations known in a matter of weeks.
NEXT WEEK: Expectations for November and December (2)