Super Eagles chaotic build-up to 2022 AFCON

Three-time African champions, the Super Eagles of Nigeria will kick-start their quest for a fourth AFCON title against seven-time winners, the Pharaohs of Egypt at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday, January 11 at Roumade Adjia Stadium, Garoua in Cameroon. Apart from Egypt, the Super Eagles have Sudan and debutants Guinea Bissau to […]

Three-time African champions, the Super Eagles of Nigeria will kick-start their quest for a fourth AFCON title against seven-time winners, the Pharaohs of Egypt at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday, January 11 at Roumade Adjia Stadium, Garoua in Cameroon.

Apart from Egypt, the Super Eagles have Sudan and debutants Guinea Bissau to contend with in Group D. Based on current world rankings, the Super Eagles are the highest ranked team in the group. They are therefore highly favoured to progress from the group along with the Pharaohs who are the most successful team in the history of AFCON.

Although the Super Eagles boast of quality players who are playing for some big clubs in Europe, recent happenings in the team call for cautious optimism. Only incurable optimists can beat their chest and say Nigeria is among the title favourites. It is, therefore, left for us to prepare our minds for any eventuality. Another football disaster is staring us in the face.

The first booby-trap for the team is no doubt NFF’s consortium of indigenous coaches for the 2022 AFCON. Following the sack of the erstwhile Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, the NFF has appointed its current Technical Director, Austin Eguavoen, to head the team’s technical crew on an interim basis. He has Salisu Yusuf, Paul Aigbogun, Joseph Yobo, Dr. Terry Eguaoje and Alloy Agu as assistants.

Meanwhile, Eguaveon’s former teammates, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha, Kanu Nwankwu and Garba Lawal are to provide technical and ambassadorial support. NFF is yet to explain to Nigerians the relevance of the technical and ambassadorial roles assigned to the ex-internationals.

Undoubtedly, having six coaches at a go portends great danger for the team. A similar experiment had failed us in the past. Soon after he qualified Nigeria for the 2002 World Cup, Late Amodu Shuaibu was sacked and Chief Festus Adegboye Onigbinde was appointed to lead the team to Korea/Japan. The octogenarian and his lieutenants failed to deliver in the country’s third World Cup appearance. Too many hands actually spoiled our good soup.

Because we are a people who hardly learn from experience, on the eve of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the then leadership of the NFF sacked Amodu Shuaibu again and appointed Bora Milutinovic to lead the Super Eagles to the first senior World Cup on African soil. Despite Bora’s intimidating profile, the team performed so abysmally that he didn’t see any need to return to Nigeria. After accusing the NFF of undue interference, he took the next available flight to his base in Europe.

Therefore, NFF’s decision to sack Rohr on the eve of 2022 AFCON is not popular among Nigerians who have discerning minds. Without any intent to undermine Eguavoen and his assistants, only a miracle like the one that happened in 2013 in South Africa will catapult the Super Eagles to victory in Cameroon.

In case of another dismal performance by the Super Eagles, the question of why sack Rohr will pop up among football stakeholders. Many would say the Franco-German tactician should have been allowed to see out his contract in December. It is only if there is another accidental discharge that Nigerians would see meaning in the sack of Rohr.

Apart from the consortium of coaches which is like a ticking bomb, the NFF has since announced the appointment of a relatively unknown Jose Vitor dos Santos Peseiro, a Portuguese coach, as the new Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles. The coach who is scheduled to arrive Nigeria today will be in Cameroon with the team as an observer.

Most Nigerians are wondering why the NFF rushed to sign a coach who has no known pedigree and is not meant to coach the team at the 2022 AFCON. Available records show that from Panathinaikos to FC Porto to Braga and even Saudi Arabia, there has hardly been a happy ending for the Portuguese. Nigerians are still trying to figure out why the NFF went for him. Maybe it is because he is Jose, Mourinho’s ‘brother’.

Well, what I know for sure is that Peseiro will be the de facto coach in the stands in Cameroon while Eguavoen will serve as the ceremonial head in the dugout. No one should be deceived by that ‘observatory’ role assigned to the Portuguese. The present NFF is suffering from ‘colonial mentality’ so anything in white colour is good enough for the Super Eagles. Personally, I know the coach to hold responsible should the Super Eagles fumble and wobble again.

Also of great concern is the recent withdrawals from the squad. As at the time of press, Nigeria and Africa’s most expensive player, Victor Osimhen, was already out of the team over health concerns. Going by the fact that Napoli were unwilling to release him, most Nigerians have received with a pinch of salt the claim that the player had tested positive for the killer coronavirus. They are of the opinion that it is only a ploy to deny them the services of one of their most potent strikers.

Apart from Osimhen, Leo Balogun, Shehu Abdullahi and Dennis Emmanuel are out of the 2022 AFCON squad. They have since been replaced by less illustrious players. And before the kick-off, the team might witness more withdrawals.

It is in view of the above that I call on Nigerians to start praying for the Super Eagles to escape another sporting disaster in Cameroon. Although I have recommended prayers, I am not unmindful of the hopelessness in prayers without corresponding actions. Therefore, as we pray for them, the Super Eagles must also play their part for our collective prayers to work.