Joy in our hearts

Whatever the result of yesterday’s Final, the Golden Eaglets have truly done Nigeria proud. I was delighted sitting in the VIP Box of  the various stadia in the United Arab Emirates that hosted the finals, side-by-side with biggest names in football administration, includingCAF President Issa Hayatou, FIFA Executive Committee members Mohamed Raouraoua and Jacques Anouma, […]

Whatever the result of yesterday’s Final, the Golden Eaglets have truly done Nigeria proud. I was delighted sitting in the VIP Box of  the various stadia in the United Arab Emirates that hosted the finals, side-by-side with biggest names in football administration, including
CAF President Issa Hayatou, FIFA Executive Committee members Mohamed Raouraoua and Jacques Anouma, CAF 1st Vice President Almamy Kabele Camara, FIFA Director of Competitions, Mustapha Fahmy and other important figures.
Over and above that, I was pleased with the words that they offered, as a result of the football that our boys played. “Your boys are excellent. I am proud that this team came out of Africa,” said CAF boss Hayatou.
Reaching the final in Asia was an accomplishment, but beyond that, the potentialities that they project for Nigeria football is of utmost importance.
The President of Confederation of African Football, Alhaji Issa Hayatou, visited the team at the Intercontinental Dubai Festival City and applauded both their performance and the youthfulness of the team. “They are quite young. I am happy to see that they have such a strong character and have a winning mentality that is second to none.”
Back home, strangely, some persons in the media and other sectors were remained cynical and even wished the team would not do well. Someone told me it is the way of Nigerians. I disagree. It is the way of evil people.
On Tuesday, I sat with the Honourable Sports Minister, Alhaji Bolaji Abdullahi as he spoke to fifa.com about the Nigeria team. He had just arrived in Dubai hours earlier and had already met with the team, telling them to go all out against Sweden in the semi final, which the boys went on to win 3-0.
The Honourable Minister spoke glowingly of the role of the NFF in preparing the team, and how he supported us, and also how the coaching crew we put together was second to none.
He espoused his vision for the team, for the players to grow up to be decent and credible professionals, who would become role models for their peers, their families and the society, and be worthy ambassadors of the Nigeria nation.
The story began in the last quarter of 2010, when the Golden Eaglets crashed out of the race for the 2011 African U-17 Championship, beaten by Cono Brazzaville. It was a period of too many distractions for the NFF and it could not have been otherwise. However, the moment we had some breathing space, we vowed that this would not happen again.
That informed the search by the NFF Technical and Development Committee for a strong technical team that would put together a squad that the whole nation would be proud of. I am quite happy that they delivered in the end.
On a number of occasions, I personally went to the team’s screening, and was even told at a time that over 5,000 teens turned up for the screening. It must have been a hard job.
Eventually, they put together a squad that has logged an intimidating record over the past two years, with their only loss in about 50 matches being a 1-0 defeat by Cote d’Ivoire in the CAN U-17 Championship in Morocco.
The teams that were at the receiving end in United Arab Emirates will not forget in a hurry the mesmerising skills and unyielding spirit of the Golden Eaglets, who lifted the image of the country and made us all proud.
My special appreciation to the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who flew all the way from Senegal on the morning of Saturday, 2nd November to support the Eaglets in their quarter final with Uruguay in Sharjah.
I must not fail to mention the worthy contributions of His Excellency, the Ambassador of Nigeria to United Arab Emirates, Alhaji Ibrahim Auwalu, who played the perfect host in a lot of ways. He was exemplary