The rebirth of the Eagles
It was a gift to Nigerians after all the disappointments of the past several years. Now, Nigerians can see the real possibility of the re-emergence of new team from the debris of several failures. The Eagles brought back bright lights of hope to every Nigerian home in 97 minutes of absolutely brilliant display of attacking […]
It was a gift to Nigerians after all the disappointments of the past several years. Now, Nigerians can see the real possibility of the re-emergence of new team from the debris of several failures. The Eagles brought back bright lights of hope to every Nigerian home in 97 minutes of absolutely brilliant display of attacking football. The entire country is being painted anew with new legislatures, new governors, a new presidential mandate, and …a new Eagles! Yes, for the first time since Samson Siasia began his tutorship of the senior national team he presented to Nigerians a team that had many elements that were new.
The performance of the Eagles was historical by any standard and no one should or can diminish its import. No Nigerian national team has ever managed to beat a category A national team by that kind of margin in any competition or friendly match. It is historical because no team in the world beats Argentina by 4 goals! Not even the giants – Brazil, Spain, or Germany. For Nigeria to have done so, with or without Argentina’s first rate players, throws light on the significance of the victory.
Argentina is Argentina!
A few months ago, Argentina lost scandalously to Bolivia (I think) by six goals before the last World Cup under Maradona. That was ‘understood’ because it was against another South American team. Maradona was not even sacked. To lose against an African team, even if the players were randomly picked on the streets of Buenos Aries, is a totally different ball game entirely. I do not know how the very proud Argentinians can live off this defeat. This is an African team that the South Americans had never lost to in all their previous meetings, a team seemingly trying to find its way in football, a team rumoured to be embattled for a very long time and destined for the doldrums, a team that was only hurriedly assembled two days before the ‘Big Match’. How could such a ‘ragged’ team have inflicted such a devastating blow on one of the most reputable teams in the world? I tell you, it is not an accidental or a fluky victory. It is a very comprehensive defeat of the Argentines by the Nigerians.
On the night the Argentines were simply bested. It was less about the quality of the Argentine players that featured and more about the Eagles that played. The Eagles were mostly young, fast, athletic and hungry to win. For the first time there were more new generation players in the team than the old. What made the absolute difference, however, for me was how the team played. The Eagles played to the full extent of their physical attributes – speed and power, and a simple classic tactic that reminded us of the Green and Super Eagles at their glorious best in the distant past. When the Nigerian team was under pressure from an opposing attack that is when the Eagles were at their most dangerous. The huge spaces left at the back of an opposing attacking team became racing tracks where the ‘weapon of destruction’ (speed and power) were unleashed by very athletic, strong and extremely quick forwards (mostly wingers in the past). Every time there was space to run into behind defences the more deadly the Eagles became, committing great havoc by scoring against the run of play. This was the old tradition of the Eagles that earned them the title of ‘most entertaining team in the world’ in 1994. When they attacked down the flanks they were a beauty to watch. Wednesday night, from the right flank, they reminded us a lot about the good old days. From the left Taiye Taiwo operated smoothly and confidently for the first time in a long while, providing the width and the crosses that made up for the relative shortcoming of that side of the Nigerian attack. Nigeria still needs to find a natural left-footed winger to add a bit more bite to Obinna Nsofor’s position on the left side.
The Eagles were simply better than the Argentines in every department of the game. That’s why every Nigerian is celebrating a genuine victory and a probable sustaining rebirth of the Eagles. Tis weekend in Ethiopia the same team will play again. It is the hope of every Nigerian that the confidence garnered in the trouncing of Argentina will provide the motivation and impetus for the annihilation of Ethiopia. After that we shall all be able to confirm that a new Eagles team has truly been born! Meanwhile, congratulations to Samson Siasia and his gallant Gladiators!
Sports development – the American model
During major international events like the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and the All Africa Games, the last set of events that takes place usually is the sprint relays. Why is that so? I am thinking about it now. Why keep the relays till the very end? Is it a matter of keeping the best for last, or what? What I do know are that the relays are a team sport; that they provide a great climax to the other events; that they often capture the spirit of the games, of team work and of collective responsibility in sports.
A relay team spends countless hours, weeks and months training to become seamless and perfect, to bond, and to run fastest and still exchange baton between the runners flawlessly within a specific area on the track. It requires complete trust in team mates and full concentration on the job at hand through the race. In the relays it is the group that gets the credit or the ‘whooping’ (depending on the outcome) and not the individuals. I like that. I like that very much. Team work, cooperation, responsibility, commitment, focus, sharing, and so on! It is life’s lessons delivered through sport. In life as well as in sport one needs the contribution, collaboration, and, even sometimes, the conspiracy of others in order to succeed. For that reason, relays best capture the essence of sport and, so, may be, thats why they are left till the end of competitions – to remind all that the best values in sports are teamwork, team spirit, cooperation, friendship, bonding, and collective responsibility either in winning or in losing! The team comes first!
So, I am interested in the relays. In short a relay team has to consist of the fastest athletes, those that have practised together as a team the most, and those that can manage pressure and not be distracted by the opposition, the noise of spectators, anxiety, nervousness, fear, and the elements. A winning team must overcome the stiffest level of competition to win. Thats why relay races are special. I love the relays. They capture everything about the beauty of athletics.
I am looking at the statistics and the records of past performances and performers in relays. I am truly intrigued by my finding. I am specifically looking at the 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relay statistics. I am looking at the records, the best performers and performances in history as well as in the past one year.
Let us look at the 4 x 400 relay records as a guide into my thoughts. The top ten teams with the best times in the history in the relay event are (from the top) Russia, Australia, Germany, United States,….wait for it….University of Texas (a university), Belarus, USSR, …University of South Carolina (another university), Czech Republic, and University of Texas (yet again). Do you see what I see? University teams amongst the top ten best teams in the history of the relays, worldwide? Thats not all!
I am looking again at another set of records. In the year 2010, a look at the best recorded times in the world leaves one fazed! 8 of the 10 best performances are university track teams in the United States – Arkansas University, Oregon University, Louisiana State University, Texas A & M University, Pennsylvania State University, Clemson University, Auburn University and University of Miami! Unbelievable but true.
Are you getting my drift? Do you see what I see? I am reminded of what we have been canvassing for Nigerian sports for decades without any understanding or response from the government. We took that route for our sports development in the early 1970s up to the mid 1980s and then we lost it! We are reminded of what we need to do in Nigeria to get back on track and even forge ahead. Our grassroots sports development has to be anchored to educational INSTITUTIONS. American universities are the perfect example to follow! Are Nigerian higher institutions (particularly in the north) reading this and taking down notes?