Watch the World Cup, but bring back our girls

When we top that with the general gloom in the polity caused by the general security situation in the country, the World Cup, happening as it is in this material time, comes as a pleasant distraction. I dare not say that the “Jonathanians” in our midst – if I may borrow the term from Nasir […]

When we top that with the general gloom in the polity caused by the general security situation in the country, the World Cup, happening as it is in this material time, comes as a pleasant distraction. I dare not say that the “Jonathanians” in our midst – if I may borrow the term from Nasir El-Rufai- must be running their hands in glee, but this World Cup comes as a pleasant distraction for many Nigerians.
As a sporting spectacle, there is already abundant evidence that this may turn out to be the best in a long time irrespective of the shambolic preparations that preceded it or the embarrassing protests by Brazilians who justifiably felt the billions of dollars spent to organize the event could have been better utilized to ameliorate their economic conditions.
Brazil 2014 has already set many records in that respect. With more than ten matches played there has not been a single drawn match. As I get set to finalize this piece, the ever efficient Germans had just put three past the Portuguese only half-way into the first half of match  many thought would be the defining clash in Group D, with a promise of more to follow because the men from Lisbon also went a man short  following Pepe’s infringement of Thomas Muller.
A few days earlier, the Dutch also thought the defending champions Spain a football lesson that will haunt them for a long time to come courtesy of an emphatic 5-1 drubbing. The Spanish team will now have to re-invent its football principles known to the world as the “Tiki-Taka”. It was a principle they had employed for more a decade. It epitomises high technical skills and intricate short passes that routinely left their opponents confused and bewildered but even more tellingly, without the ball because they kept it ever so beautifully. In many matches they played, the Spanish team often kept possession of the ball for more than 70 percent of the entire match. And if their opponents did not have the ball they couldn’t harm them.
But we saw definite proof of the gradual unravelling of the Tiki-Taka system with the humbling of FC Barcelona in a crucial semi-final of the European Champions League two years ago. Now the Dutch, who under the incomparable tactician Rinus Michaels, also gave the world the other famous footballing philosophy called “Total Football” in the 1970s, appear to have provided final conclusive proof. Worryingly for the Spanish too, Xavi and Iniesta, the very pivots of their attractive system appear to have slowed with age.
By the time you get to read this, the Nigerian national team would have also played Iran in their Group F clash. Not too long ago, under our succession of Dutch coaches Clemens Westerhof and Jo Bonfrere, a match between Iran and Nigeria would have been very easy to predict because we would have won by a very wide margin. Now, no one is sure any more and the logical question to ask is why?
It all started with our surprising victory at the African Cup of Nations in South Africa.  Becoming the Champions of Africa when it was least expected would have humbled any other coach but not so our own Stephen Keshi. Luck, and the gutsy display of the experimental team he took to South Africa appears to have increased his king-sized ego.
The football bureaucrats in the NFA now defer to him. He is also buoyed by the public statement of support by the nation’s number one citizen. Although he promised to select the squad for Brazil on merit, Nigerians have been left baffled by the inexplicable exclusion of the Spanish based striker I.K. Uche who scored 20 goals in LaLiga last season.
Uche is regarded by many to be the most gifted Nigerian striker in Europe. Instead, Keshi has opted for the journeyman Shola Ameobi, recently released by his club in England, for an event in which only the best and most talented strikers would do. Like many English based Nigerian footballers who grew up in England, Ameobi did not express the enthusiasm to play for Nigeria in his prime. But now in the twilight of his modest career, has been handed the chance to shine on a stage craved by any professional football player.
Keshi has also waved aside the offer of foreign technical assistance and my first impulse is to say a big good luck to the man. He is entirely responsible for the results he achieves after all. I pray for the sake of long suffering Nigerian football fans that Nigeria makes it out of the group stage this time. It will certainly lift some of the gloom in the country presently.
Football is always capable of achieving that. It unites Nigerians like no other thing. And this World Cup already promises much in terms of the quality of the football spectacle on display. We are sure to witness a new record in terms of the total number of gaols scored. In their victory over the English team, the Italians have already set a series of records.
They achieved the best passing accuracy overall for a team at the World Cup in 48 years at 93.2 percent. They have also completed more passes than any other team at the 2014 World Cup so far. 554 out of 595 passes they attempted were completed. One can only pray and hope that the Nigerian team reaches the same level of perfection soon.
So let us all enjoy the 2014 World Cup for all it is worth. Let us share in the joy of victory and the agony of defeat for all the participating teams. But in doing so, let us also spare time for the missing girls from Chibok and their parents to whom this spectacle is nothing but a needless distraction.
Let the Eagles soar in spite of their limitations, but let us also maintain the pressure on the appropriate authorities to fulfil their constitutional obligations not just to them but to all Nigerians in dire need of it.