I saw Super Falcons’ humbling defeat coming

I had finished writing my article for the week when that humbling defeat inflicted on the Super Falcons by the Bayana Bayana of South Africa happened on Tuesday, September 21. The crash of the Falcons became so topical that I was left with no option than to stay action on what I had written. After […]

I had finished writing my article for the week when that humbling defeat inflicted on the Super Falcons by the Bayana Bayana of South Africa happened on Tuesday, September 21.

The crash of the Falcons became so topical that I was left with no option than to stay action on what I had written. After all, it was going to earn me some knocks and enemies in high places. But it will surely come.

‘I saw it coming’ is a familiar expression associated with football commentators in Nigeria. Each time a goal is scored, you would hear a commentator say “I saw it coming”. “Ladies and gentlemen, who scored that scorcher? Was it Kanu Nwankwo or Jay Jay Okocha?” Meanwhile, the commentator is the one who is live at the match venue. You begin to wonder why he must enquire from the fans who are either watching on TV or listening to his radio commentary millions of miles away. Well, that is how we do it in Nigeria.

For most people, the shambolic performance of the Super Falcons which saw them blown away 4-2 by the clinical Bayana Bayana of South Africa in the final match of the maiden edition of Dr. Aisha Buhari Women’s Invitational Football Tournament last Tuesday was a bitter pill to swallow.

The Nigerian girls were so lethargic that the NFF itself threw away the baby with the bathwater by calling out some of the players it said ‘played against the team’. Desire Oparanozie was the worst hit by the scathing criticism from the NFF media handlers.

Football stakeholders, especially promoters of female football immediately descended on the NFF accusing the football federation of insensitivity and intolerance for girl-child.

That offensive press release was immediately watered down by the federation to calm frayed nerves.

Considering how much of public funds went into the organisation of what critics of the NFF have since termed ‘public relations Tournament’, it would have been nice to see the Super Falcons lift the trophy. However, the Falcons failed to soar right in front of their teeming fans.

Personally, I have not lost a single sleep because I saw the disastrous moment coming. The moment the Super Falcons lost the 2022 Tokyo Olympics ticket to the less fancied Ivory Coast ladies, I knew the team was beginning to lose its continental dominance.

After dilly dallying, the NFF then hired an American coach, Randy Waldrum, who has kept faith with the tired legs in the team. Modern football requires speed, stamina, agility and strength. Therefore, younger players easily excel when pitched against older ones.

Football age is unisex. I make bold to say that there are some players in the present Super Falcons squad who are old enough to be grandmothers but are using ‘football age’. For instance, one of the players in the Super Falcons is 38 years old, so your guess is as good as mine.

Majority of the players in the team are well past their prime and should honourably bow out. However, the whiff of money and international caps won’t allow them to quit the stage now that they can be cheered off.

Apart from age, most of the players have lost the appetite for victories. Some are still young but they feel they have seen it all. Consequently, there is no more hunger in them. They no longer play with their body and soul.

If the handlers of the team are scared of throwing the oldies off the sinking ship, they should be inspired by the audacious performance of home-girl Gift Monday who scored a brace against Mali in the opening match of the Aisha Buhari Cup. The future is with the youths.

Another thing I feel is relevant enough to be mentioned is the omission of Pa Ismaila Mabo from the list of the set of 1999 Super Falcons who were honoured 24 hours before the encounter with the Bayana Bayana. The 77 old Mabo who is the most successful football coach in Nigeria, having taken the Super Falcons to the quarter-finals of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup and Athens 2004 Olympic Games was conspicuously missing at the awards night. A few hours later, the Super Falcons suffered their first biggest home loss. Maybe the gods are not happy with the NFF for failing to honour the former Nigerian international.

Next for the Super Falcons is the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations (AFWCON) qualification First Round match against the Black Stars of Ghana on October 18. The Super Falcons are nine-time Champions of Africa but going by their recent lacklustre performance, one cannot confidently say what is going to happen.

I get am before no be property, so goes the saying.  Super Falcons opponents have bridged the gap that existed between them so they must wake up from the slumber without further procrastination.