Flying Eagles: Coach Zubairu must keep agents at arm’s length

Nigeria’s national U-20 men’s football team, the Flying Eagles, have entered the most important stage of their preparation for the 2025 FIFA World Championship. Led by Coach Aliyu Zubair, the team is currently camping in Abuja to fine-tune strategies for a better outing at the tournament, which is scheduled for September 27 to October 19 […]

Nigeria’s national U-20 men’s football team, the Flying Eagles, have entered the most important stage of their preparation for the 2025 FIFA World Championship. Led by Coach Aliyu Zubair, the team is currently camping in Abuja to fine-tune strategies for a better outing at the tournament, which is scheduled for September 27 to October 19 in Chile. The U-20 trophy has remained elusive to the Flying Eagles as the closest Nigeria came to winning it was in 1989 and 2005 when the junior Eagles finished as runners-up.

Incidentally, one of Nigeria’s worst outings in the competition was recorded in 1987 in Chile, where Etim ‘Maradona’ Esin and his teammates recorded what till date is known as “Chile disaster.” In 1987, the Flying Eagles were housed with the almighty Brazil, Canada and Italy. For this year, they will face Norway, Saudi Arabia and Colombia in Group E.

Each time the Flying Eagles qualify to compete in the youth tournament, expectations are usually high that the jinx would be broken. Unfortunately, it has been disappointing all through as the past squads all failed to deliver.

When the Flying Eagles reached the final for the first time in 1989, the late Chris Udemezue was the coach. His team was made up of home-based players. Philip Osondu, who had moved abroad to play for Anderlecht in Belgium following his outstanding performance with the Golden Eaglets in 1987, was the only foreign- based player in the team.

Despite the fact that they were local players, the Flying Eagles of 1987 set a footballing record as Nigeria became the first team to come back from four goals down to equalise and go on to win a FIFA World Cup match at any level.

In only 46 minutes, their quarter-final opponents, USSR raced to a four-goal lead, but with 30 minutes to fulltime in Dammam, the young Eagles responded with goals from Dimeji Lawal, Chris Ohenhen, Sam Elijah and 1985 Golden Eaglets’ captain, Nduka Ugbade. The whole world was stunned when the boys went on to win the match on penalties.

Although they lost the final 0-2 to Portugal after Abel Silva and Jorge Couto scored in each half of the match, the Flying Eagles returned home to a rousing welcome due to their outstanding performances, especially the shocking comeback victory against USSR. Nigerians unanimously applauded the silver medal that tasted like gold.

Furthermore, when the Flying Eagles finished as runners-up in the Netherlands in 2005, most of the players were from the domestic league. Only six players – Taye Taiwo, Yinka Adedeji, Chinedu Obasi, Olubayo Adefemi, Solomon Okoronkwo, and John Mikel Obi – players who had just left Nigeria for clubs in Europe – were invited to beef up the squad. Some of us can still recall the influential role home boys like the late Isaac Promise, Onyekachi Apam, Dele Adeleye, Monday James and Ambrose Vanzekin played in the team.

The foregoing is just to lay a solid foundation for this article and buttress the fact that in the past, our cadet national teams thrived with home-grown talents. Therefore, our junior national teams mustn’t be populated by foreign-based players for us to win international football competitions.

Unfortunately, as the Flying Eagles intensify preparations for Chile, the same mistake that cost us greatly in the past is about to be repeated. If care is not taken, agents would fill the team to the brim with their low quality players for selfish reasons.

At the moment, Nigerian players based abroad and backed by influential agents are being begged to come and represent the country. A few days ago, I read in one of the national dallies how the player that came in from Holland dazzled in training. How he captivated the writer, I do not know. But I wasn’t surprised by the report because some of us are used to these headlines anytime the junior national teams are preparing for international tournaments.

I don’t want anyone to misunderstand my position on foreign-based players for the junior national teams. Of course, these players have their roots in Nigeria and are eligible to represent the country. However, the truth is that most times, the young foreign pros are not better than the home-based players.

Moreover, these young lads who are born and bred abroad don’t know much about the country they are coming to represent. Sometimes, their parents influence their decision to come home. Therefore, most of them come to play just to please their parents and the agents who go the extra mile to get them invited to the team.

Meanwhile, the local boys who laboured to win the ticket are sidelined as a whole new squad made up of mostly foreign-based players is hurriedly assembled to go and represent Nigeria. Anytime such a scenario plays out, the original boys go home feeling cheated. It is possible that some of them even heap indelible curses on the team. This may be one of the reasons the Flying Eagles have failed to win the U-20 World Cup, even as Nigeria is a six-time winner of the FIFA U-17 Championship.

Therefore, my candid advice to Coach Zubairu is that he must avoid the mistakes of his predecessors by laying less emphasis on the foreign-based players. I can say without any fear of contradiction that most of the foreign-based players that agents have recommended to him are not more talented than the home-based players he has been working with. Yes, rich agents will certainly tempt him with money, but he should resist the whiff of foreign currencies in order to succeed with the team.

On this note, I want to commend the former El-Kanemi Warriors coach because even at this crucial stage of the team’s preparation, nobody has openly accused him of bribery and corruption. It was not the same thing when his immediate predecessor was in charge of the team. I urge him to base his final team selection on merit. He shouldn’t be afraid to go to Chile with most of the players who qualified the team for the World Championship. After all, it is said that the devil you know is better than an angel you don’t know.

However, it won’t be a bad idea to inject a few exceptionally talented foreign- based players into the team, but preference must be given to those who started their professional careers in Nigeria. Such players understand better what it means to put on the green-white-green jersey.

I need no seer to tell me that the days ahead will be intriguing as Zubairu prepares to name his Flying Eagles squad for the biggest task of his coaching career. Moreover, now that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has magnanimously introduced N150 million cash reward for victorious athletes, the scramble for slots in the Flying Eagles will be fierce and deadly.

The coach should, therefore, prepare himself mentally and physically to withstand the endless pressure that will come from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials, wealthy agents, scouts, parents and guardians of the players. If he bows to pressure and hands over his team to some self-serving individuals, he would have himself to blame.