Polo can help deepen Nigeria, Argentina ties – Amb. Kaave
As the Nigerian Ambassador to Argentina, are you in the country to advise the NFF on how the Argentina jinx can be broken at the 2014 World Cup?(Laughs) Not really. I am here first on consultations with my supervising ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which has granted me permission to come from Argentina to […]
As the Nigerian Ambassador to Argentina, are you in the country to advise the NFF on how the Argentina jinx can be broken at the 2014 World Cup?
(Laughs) Not really. I am here first on consultations with my supervising ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which has granted me permission to come from Argentina to Nigeria for consultations on certain challenges that we are facing far away in Argentina. Having done that, I have this little time to grant this interview on football related matters.
Considering the proximity between Brazil and Argentina, you must be following Brazil’s preparations for the 2014 World Cup. How ready is Brazil for the championship which is four months away?
I will like to say that Brazil is going to host this great Mundial for the second time in its history. The first time it did was in 1950 when it hosted and lost to Uruguay in the finals.. The country has good facilities but what is making FIFA nervous is that several of those stadia that are supposed to have been ready for some time now are still not yet completed even as FIFA has given the host nation several deadlines that have never been met. FIFA is therefore getting nervous about those deadlines not being met. The last FIFA team that visited to supervise facilities discovered that four of those stadia have not been completed. From what we been reading, the Brazilian economy is going through so much stress particularly because it is hosting not only the World Cup but it is going to host the Olympic soon after. So it has been a big strain on the economy and so the economically challenged population in Brazil have become very restive to the extent that they put out a three million man march in Brazil causing serious problems for the government. So I think that Brazil has to work very hard to complete those stadia in good enough time so that tickets can be sold for those stadia, security arrangement around them sufficiently beefed and miscreants taken away from the streets so that the championship would take place in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity. I believe that Brazilians should be able to square up to the challenge.
Once again Nigeria is going to play Argentina in Brazil. As Nigerian Ambassador to Argentina and former member of the NFA board how well can you recount the football rivalry that exists between these two countries?
Let me just sum it up and say that when the national teams of these two countries play, they play each other on a nervous point. At no time has Argentina beaten Nigeria so overwhelmingly that they can say let’s write them off. And at no time have we beaten Argentina in a manner that we can say no they are a walkover. But let’s go back to history. Our football rivalry with Argentina started in 1994 in USA where we lost narrowly to them about a minute or so to go, thereby losing by two goals to one. Between then and now, as far as FIFA organised World Cup is concerned, we have played three times. In 1994, 2002 in Japan- Korea and even in 2010 in South Africa, losing each time 1-0. However, the crucial point in this rivalry is the 1996 encounter at the Olympics in Atlanta when Nigeria defeated Argentina by 3-2 to lift the gold. From that point up to now, we have played a series of matches that can be classified into four categories. FIFA World Cup, Confederation Cup, Olympics and then friendly matches. The rivalry has been quite interesting and intense. We played a friendly against Argentina here in Abuja in 2011 beating them 4-1. Argentina also beat Nigeria 3-1 in the reverse fixture played few months later in London. The point I want to emphasis is that each time that the two teams meet, they are at their nerves edge. So the Argentines were quite nervous that they are paired with Nigeria again. And I believe we too are nervous because at this point where we are, the argentine team is at its best since 1978. The Super Eagles are close to their best since 1994. So a lot is being expected from the two countries. This match will be played on the 25 of June in a city called Port Alegre. It is a city close to Argentina. So Nigerians in Argentina are planning to come there in en mass.
Do you have any plans to mobilise Nigerians in Argentina to storm Port Alegre for the Super Eagles?
As Nigerian Ambassador to Argentina and a renowned stakeholder in Nigerian football, I will give any interested Nigerian fan the necessary support. But the pity is that there are not many Nigerians in Argentina. We are not more than 500, 600, at most 700, from our records. And out of this small Nigerian population in Argentina, we should not expect more than a hundred at the very most to mobilise resources to participate in watching these matches in Brazil. But we would do our best to support them in whatever way we can so that if they desire to watch the matches, they should do so with minimal problems.
Where will your support rest when Nigeria confronts Argentina come June 25?.
I am in love with the Argentine national team. I have watched them play three of their qualifying matches in three different provinces of the country. One of them was as far as two hours flying time. They have a very good team. A solid attacking squad, a strong midfield and defence but somebody said to me some time ago that if there is a football match between your father and mother, even before the kick off, your sentiments must have swerved to one side, either to your mother or father. For me you know where my natural sentiment will swerve. Even though my host the Argentines have been very pleasant, very friendly and very warm, them playing against the Eagles, our own national team, for those 90 minutes my sentiments would naturally swerve towards the Super Eagles of Nigeria where I was once privileged to be two times board member of the football association. In fact at a point, I was even second vice chairman. So it will be strange, if I simply say let the better side win like we always say. If the better side is going to win by luck, I will pray the mother luck is on the side of the Super Eagles.
How much does an average Argentine know about Nigerian football?
Argentines mainly think that Nigeria is an African country that is great in production of football celebrities and they mention the names of all those players that you know were in all these engagements that we were excellent against them. Taribo West, Dan Amokachi, Samson Siasia, Celestine Babayaro, Uche Okechukwu, Late Rashidi Yekini and a host of others. On the streets they mention these names. When I was introduced as Nigerian Ambassador to Argentina, all they asked me was about these players I am talking to you about. This is a serious perception challenge for me. It will take a lot to make them understand that Nigeria is not only about football.
Let’s go back to Brazil 2014. Do you also think Group F is a straight fight between Nigeria and Argentina?. We have other contenders like Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the group.
Many soccer analysts have already concluded in their minds and projections that in Group F that has Argentina, Nigeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iran, Nigeria and Argentina are the sure tickets that would emerge from there. My caution is that the players and handlers of the Super Eagles should not take the other two teams in the group for granted particularly Iran that is making her fifth appearance. The only debutant is Bosnia and Herzegovina but they should not be taken for granted. They also have big stars doing devastatingly well in Europe. As we used to preach when I was the Chairman of BCC Lions FC, the only team that is the weak team is the one that has lost after 90 minutes. So no team is a weak team until the match is over and you have won. So as far as I am concerned, if we are thinking about Argentina, we should also place the other teams very high. It is only after the matches that we can say so and so team is an underdog.
Looking into your crystal balls, does the present squad of the Super Eagles have what it takes to become the first African nation to reach the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup?
What I can say is that the best record in the World Cup participation for the Eagles has been the USA 1994 team. But since then, the fortunes of the team have dwindled remarkably. It is great relief that Stephen Keshi himself a former player and captain of the super Eagles has turned around the fortunes of the team. But let us not over blow our luck as the African champions of the moment. There is so much that has to be done to meet the challenge of participating in the World Cup and succeeding. The World Cup is different from AFCON. For a team to make an important mark, it has to have a very strong attacking component, a very strong and dependable midfield and a solid defence. But right now that I am talking to you we have not sufficiently sharpened our attack neither have we sufficiently built our midfield. And it is difficult for me to pin point a one sure reliable central defender in the mould of Uche Okechukwu, Taribo West and Joseph Yobo. And until we are able to improve between now and June we should not put our hopes high. So much work has to be done. And I pray we are able to do that before it is too late.
Apart from the AFCON 2013 heroes, are there other players you feel should be given a chance to fight for shirts in the team for Brazil 2014?
I don’t have a particular one in mind. The ones people talk about mostly in the media are Joseph Yobo and Osaze Odemwingie. As far as I know these two, they have passed their prime. I don’t imagine they will be anything less than 30 years. And as you know, in the game of football, you cannot be at your prime in your thirties. Players’ prime time in football is between 20 to 29 years.
What is your take on the Africa Nations Championship, CHAN, introduced by CAF for home based players and your assessment of the performance of the Eagles at the recently concluded edition in South Africa?
First I think CAF is well advised in formulating this tournament. It is now in its third year of existence. I guess we participated for the first time. It is actually what I may call a local content angle of our football. Furthermore, what is the message we are sending about our local league in that participation? To have come third is not the best we can put forward especially if you consider that in that tournament even though we took the bronze we conceded the highest number of goals. Incidentally, we also scored the highest number of goals. Some of the goals that our goalkeeper conceded were very cheeky. And some of the goals we saw our strikers missed was very embarrassing. It tells something about our local league. Our local coaches have a lot to do. They need refresher courses. We need a lot more input into our academies. We should spend more time looking out for local talents and developing them to celebrity status of Kanu Nwankwo, Taribo West, Jay-Jay Okocha, Dan Amokachi and so on. We are not spending enough time and resources on youth football development.
Argentina is a powerhouse in polo and Nigeria is an emerging force in the game. In what ways do you think the two nations can collaborate to strengthen their diplomatic ties?
Well before I got appointed Ambassador by President Goodluck Jonathan and assigned to Argentina, I had very little interest in polo. In fact I knew little about it because of where I come from, Benue State. In Nigeria, over 80 per cent of polo is played in the north. Some percentage in Lagos, Port-Harcourt and recently Abuja. When I got to Argentina and was reviewing the visa policy of Nigeria, over 90 per cent of those applying for visa in our embassy applied to come to Nigeria for equestrian sport, that is polo and the rest. No week passes that I don’t get five to ten applications from Argentines who are coming to play polo in Nigeria. Then I realised that if for any reason in one week I happen to travel out of Argentina to the other neighbouring countries that I oversee Chile, Peru and Uruguay, I get phone calls from Senators, Emirs, ministers, Generals from Nigeria exerting pressure on me to issue visa that has been delayed for a couple of days or week. I then realised that using this vehicle of polo, we can deepen our diplomatic ties with Argentina in a very far reaching manner. The people behind the game of polo are policy makers in these countries. They have a long reach. So if we leverage on that we can influence a lot of things between Nigeria and Argentina beyond the field of football and polo and get to develop other areas where there are enormous potentials waiting to be tapped.