Not a bad outing

While many people would look at the results (this is natural and logical), it is important to also look at the lessons that we came away with, against some of the best teams in world football.The temptation is to quickly dismiss Tahiti, our first opponents of the competition, as a minnow football nation. Yet, the […]

While many people would look at the results (this is natural and logical), it is important to also look at the lessons that we came away with, against some of the best teams in world football.
The temptation is to quickly dismiss Tahiti, our first opponents of the competition, as a minnow football nation. Yet, the Tahitians are the champions of a continent (Oceania) no matter how they got there.
No other team at the FIFA Confederations Cup faced the kind of gruel (some self-imposed) that the Super Eagles faced before the tournament. On the footballing platform, the team went to a training camp in Germany, flew to the United States of America to play a prestigeous friendly against Mexico, the champions of CONCACAF, and flew back to Germany.
The 2-2 result against the Mexicans was impressive, considering that we did not have the services of our full squad. John Mikel Obi, Victor Moses and Emmanuel Emenike were not in Texas. Sure, the boys deserve praise for their outing against the Mexicans.
Back in Germany, the boys then got ready to travel to Nairobi for a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match, and had to be flown through Addis Ababa and Khartoum. They arrived in Nairobi in the early hours of Tuesday, played on Wednesday and flew out of Nairobi to Johannesburg on Thursday evening. On Friday morning, they flew into Windhoek.
Agreed, they were able to train and rest for a few days in Windhoek before the match on Wednesday, but then added gruel of their own with the bonus issue. On the bonus issue, I wish to reiterate that this was a matter that had been thrashed out with the team’s management, and I also held a meeting with some of the ‘senior’ players in Nairobi and Windhoek, to explain why we had to take the slash measure.
After backing off the issue, they flew into Johannesburg, connected the long flight to Sao Paulo, arrived in the night and connected another flight in the very early hours to Belo Horizonte, arriving in the early hours of Sunday, to play on Monday afternoon.
As a former football player myself, I could appreciate what a gruel it must have been, and for the team not to have reasonable rest before taking to the field against another continental champion-team.
That we won 6-1 was down to the determination of our players and their go-go spirit. Certainly, it could have been more but the boys were truly fatigued and deserve commendation for their efforts.
Against Uruguay, really, we should have capitalized on the momentum after Mikel Obi’s equalizer. But Uruguay finished fourth at the last World Cup in South Africa and have a number of world figures in their ranks. The narrow loss was no disgrace.
It is a pity that we did not fly against Spain. The boys played and showed enthusiasm all around but the finishing was just not there. The strikers missed excellent opportunities and you can’t really blame anyone for that.
The positives we have taken away include the lessons: that we need to extend our searchlight further for strikers, whether new ones or good old ones that have proved themselves in the past; that we must be on the alert for the 90 minutes of a football; that we must never give up hope no matter the situation and; also that when strikers fail to make hay, midfielders can point the way forward, as we saw John Mikel Obi craft a beautiful goal.
I am happy to hear Coach Stephen Keshi say during the week that he has not closed his door on some players. The door should never be closed on any player who still have the passion and the flair to serve this country well.
The Eagles must now take the lessons they have learned to heart and let these reflect in subsequent matches, such as in the closing stages of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying series, against Malawi and the yet-to-be-determined opponent over two legs.
Go for it, Flying Eagles…
I arrived at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey in time to see the Flying Eagles beat Korea Republic 1-0 on Thursday. The early goal certainly calmed nerves in a match that we needed to win to be sure of a place in the Round of 16.
The team would certainly be well-rested ahead of the Round of 16 match on Tuesday, and fortunately, they are remaining in the Turkish capital, Istanbul (where they played the last game) for that encounter.
I was in Algeria with the team and was not too happy with their outing, in which they came third behind Egypt and Ghana. However, after the first two rounds of matches here, Egypt and Ghana lost both their games and the Flying Eagles were left looking like the real African champions.
I am confident our boys can prevail over the second-placed team in Group F (any of Uruguay, Croatia and Uzbekistan) on Tuesday evening and go ahead to qualify for the quarter finals. The trick is to take it one match at a time and adopt the right tactics against whichever opposition turns up.
NEXT WEEK: The FIFA U-20 World Cup finals