Nearly kills no bird

The lessons I talk about here revolve around one theme: Nearly Kills No Bird. Only winners get to the top, which is what we all know. It is never enough to finish second, which also we are duly aware of.After Wednesday night’s defeat by the Black Stars in Bloemfontein, all sorts of excuses cropped up, […]

The lessons I talk about here revolve around one theme: Nearly Kills No Bird. Only winners get to the top, which is what we all know. It is never enough to finish second, which also we are duly aware of.
After Wednesday night’s defeat by the Black Stars in Bloemfontein, all sorts of excuses cropped up, even from those who were not at the match. This, also, is natural and much-expected, considering the level of passion that football as a sport generates all over the world, in general, and in Nigeria, in particular.
Whatever excuses might have been drawn up are not good enough. The truth is, our team failed to capitalise on the several advantages that ushered them into the game and simply faltered at the big moment.
The rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana on the football field, and in other areas of endeavour, are well-documented and known to anyone in the two countries. Our players were fully aware of this, and the fact that beating Ghana at any level would always require that extra energy, spirit, cohesion, painstaking and precision.
Coming into the match, we were the overwhelming favourites, on the evidence of the stunning comeback against Morocco (4-3 win in extra time despite a 0-3 deficit at half time), the annihilation of host nation South Africa (3-1) in Cape Town without the Bafana lifting a finger and the statistics that showed we had scored 12 goals in four matches while Ghana had scored only four.
We also had a player who had won Man Of The Match awards in our last three matches, Ejike Uzoenyi, and who looked good to be Most Valuable Player of the Tournament. Of course, a number of other players, like Rabiu Ali (three goals), Ifeanyi Ede and Azubuike Egwuekwe had shown tremendous ability and competence and improved with every match.
But on Wednesday, it all collapsed like pack of cards as the Eagles failed to capitalise on psychological advantage, as well as on-field advantage in the form of red card to a Ghanaian player, which ensured that Nigeria played with one man more for about one hour.
I was the first to praise the players’ spirit in rising from the morale-weaking loss to Mali on the opening day to a come from behind and defeat Mozambique comfortably 4-2. I also commended the boys for a spectacular destruction of South Africa right in front of fans of the
Bafana Bafana. I equally hailed their efforts in the historic comeback from three goals down after 40 minutes to eliminate Morocco (the side that ejected Cup holders Tunisia in the qualifying series) from the tournament.
However, I will be the first to admit that the Eagles did not pull their weight in the clash with Ghana, despite being aware of the history behind Nigeria/Ghana clashes.
It was a game that looked, by and large, to be in the cooler already as the Ghanaians themselves expressed apprehension at facing the Super Eagles – champions of Africa. They respected the results garnered by the Eagles in the tournament before the semi final clash and knew they were second best going into the game.
Our boys had no real excuse for throwing away so many opportunities to claim the match well before the end of regulation time. Chances fell to them here and again, and they had so much room to launch onslaughts now every now and then but did not make this count.
At the end of the day, we also failed in the penalty shoot-out. Definitely, all teams train for penalties once they are in the knock-out stages of any competition. But our boys fared miserably in that sector and were bombed out.
The fact that we ‘nearly’ scored against Ghana, several times, no longer matters. It is Ghana that will face Libya in the final at the Cape Town Stadium this evening. The Eagles will be going up against Zimbabwe for the bronze medal.
I want to use this opportunity to apologise to His Excellency, our dear President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR for the unexpected loss to Ghana. I am aware that His Excellency had already started making plans to receive the team at the State House and reward players and
officials, as he did for the Super Eagles A when they won the Africa Cup of Nations last year and for the Golden Eaglets when they won the U-17 World Cup in United Arab Emirates, also last year.
His Excellency has also hosted the Eaglets, Flying Eagles and the Falconets for impressive outings at major international competitions.
My sincere expectation, and that of the Nigeria Football Federation and the entire Nigeria football family, is that the Eagles B rise to the occasion against Zimbabwe and at least win something from this championship, for the generality of Nigerians who have been led to harbour high hopes, and those who have been here in the cold for three weeks supporting the team in the stands and elsewhere.
Next Week: Our Expectations for First Quarter (2)