Super Eagles and Qatar World Cup: Before We Cast the Stone

Fred Edoreh

It sure hurts our national pride that the Super Eagles failed to qualify for Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Blames are being traded and even the real worms which continually disrupt  the stability and development of our football are the ones carrying the biggest stick.

My take is, first, it is football. Qualification to the World Cup is no team’s birthright, a certain administrator once told us when, under the heat of Kano’s hot sun, Angola denied us the ticket to Germany 2006.

But Nigeria is not alone. Italy, two times world champions, have also failed to qualify, back-to-back. 

Even in qualifying, whoever could have  thought that Spain, with all the brilliance with which they won the South Africa 2010 World Cup, could have been discharged as early as they were at the next edition in Brazil? Same way Germany, with all the grit with which they stole the show in Brazil were bundled out early in Russia 2018. 

The game is full of upsets and therein is the drama that makes it beautiful. Winners glory, losers groan, but there is always a next time. What is important is if lessons are learnt and with sobriety as the game constantly evolves.

In Nigeria, however, it seems that what we need is to unlearn some old habits by which we all contribute to our failures.

We have always been here. Three months to France ’98, we sacked Phillipe Troussier and brought in Bora Mulitinovic who also brought in a holidaying Peter Rufai to man the post a week to the opening.  We defeated Spain and shouted “Eureka” only for Denmark to pound us away, disgracefully. 

Three months to the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup, we sacked the entire Super Eagles team and Amodu Shaibu’s  technical crew on grounds that they insulted the then Minister of Sports. Thankfully, he had qualified us before then and we went to the event only to mark register.

Three months to the South Africa 2010 World Cup, we again sacked Amodu and his crew and brought in Lars Lagerback and just also made the number in Jo’burg.

The present NFF seems to have wanted a more stable coaching crew, to win, lose, learn and continue to build the team. There is never an end to team building because the game changes every season.

It was the same way Clemens Westerhorf did and finally provided us what we regard as the glorious era of the Super Eagles. 

After receiving a 1-5 wallop by Algeria in the opening group game of Algiers ’90, the team proceeded to finish second in the final. 

Westerhorf fell back to third place in Senegal ’92 and eventually won the next edition, Tunisia ’94. Then he put an icing by qualifying Nigeria to the World Cup for the first time. 

To achieve this, he went through a big fight with the then National Sports Commission which had strong grip on a helpless NFA, and bulldozed his way to source the support of the Presidency, especially the office of Augustus Aikhomu, to keep stability.

His template with Jo Bonfrere whom he brought in as his assistant provided the footballing culture, style and selection of personnel that saw  Nigeria win the gold at the Atlanta ’96 Olympics.

Gernot Rhor was similarly well on his way. He had his highs and lows with narrow misses against Argentina in Russia, with just four minutes to a second round berth, and against Algeria in the semi final of the 2019 Nations Cup with just seconds to berthing in the final but finished at third place.

That Central Africa Republic upset the Super Eagles in the World Cup qualifying group match in Lagos is part of the game, but we failed to appreciate too that Rohr also led the team to beat them with higher margin at their adopted home in Cameroun. 

Cape Verde also has been difficult for many African teams but we beat them in their home and though they fought back to get a draw in Lagos, we triumphed on aggregate to emerge top of the group.

Point is, there are no minions any more in the game. There are teams which manage to qualify to tournaments only as best losers but go on to do well or even win the tournament proper.

So the hoopla with which we sacked Rohr with just few weeks to the Cameroun Nations Cup was most unnecessary and not well thought. 

But, the NFF had been boxed in by the propaganda sponsored by the powers that be for the sacking of Rohr and the nationalisation of our coaching crew.

The debate over indigenous and foreign coaches is not new with us and the verdict is neither here nor there. In truth, none of them guarantees anything but there  are certain variables that are different. These include capacity for dispassionate and uninfluenced selection, team discipline, matured temperament, man management and international contacts amongst others.

However, our game has been constantly disrupted by the 1980 and 1994 set of our ex-internationals who, with their unrestrained sense of entitlement, are always confusing the system in their urge to be made Super Eagles coach, NFF President, Secretary General or head of the league, notwithstanding that we know that playing the game does not translate to proficiency in coaching and administration.

Many of them have been opportune severally to coach various national teams and clubs, head various sports institutions, and we know the outcomes. Name them – Christian Chukwu, Samson Siasia, Sunday Oliseh, Daniel Amokachi, Henry Nwosu, Franklin Howard, Emmanuel Amunike etc.

We can credit Siasia for 2005 FIFA u-20 silver, Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016 Olympic silver and bronze medals but he also failed a Nations Cup qualifier. Chukwu made third in the Nations Cup but also failed the 2006 World Cup qualifier. Others did even less. 

Indeed, no one could have demonstrated more passion for our ex-internationals to coach our national teams than Amaju Pinnick who stubbornly settled for Sunday Oliseh from day one, but we all know the outcome, the reason why the NFF had to look out for another foreign coach against their initial disposition.

This is not to discountenance anyone but just to remind us that the oft return to the debate over indigenous and foreign coach has always been counter-productive. The game is universal. Players and coaches of various nationalities are engaged by various other nations just the way we have seen the likes of Chukwu, Shuaibu, Amuneke, Keshi coach other countries and clubs.

Austin Eguavoen with whom we replaced Rohr was not new as coach of the Super Eagles. He has been there for about three times earlier. He returned third at the Nations Cup and also failed an Olympic qualifier. He was also at Enyimba FC. 

When we shouted “Eureka” on defeating Egypt 1-0 in our opening game in Cameroon, we were insincere not to have acknowledged that when the Egyptians came out in the second half, the Super Eagles were kept mostly on the back foot.

Against Tunisia, we saw how the technical crew could not provide any other attacking option when the Tunisian defence cut off Moses Simon on the left and Chukwueze on the right. 

Fair to Eguavoen, he has revealed that he advised the NFF not to sack Rohr so close to the Nations Cup and at the crucial point of the World Cup qualifier, but the decision  was neither in Eguavoen’s hand nor any longer in the hand of the NFF, given the massive propaganda behind the agenda and accentuated by an ever interfering power that the NFF dared not dare.

Everybody knows that after the forced sack of Rohr the NFF was more disposed to getting in Jose Peisero with whom they had had pre-contract talks but, again, the power that be must and had his way against the idea. It was good news for Ghana.

Pinnick has announced that he might no longer be interested in returning as President of the NFF. The worms are rejoicing because that is what they always wanted. They had even tried it by force during the ministerial stint of Solomon Dalung.

But we must plot the future of our game with sobriety and analytical honesty. This requires that we try to separate the adminstrative efficiency of the NFF  from the technical effectiveness of the players and technical crew. The questions to answer are : Was our non-qualification the failure of administration or of the players and technical crew or both? Was the mix up over the coaching crew the sole action of the administrators or was it influenced by higher powers beyond their control?

Assistant Coach Amuneke has cleared the air that the NFF did not interfere in their selection of players. We have also seen that, against all odds in our present economy, the NFF did their bit to provide everything that the Super Eagles needed. For long, the Super Eagles have no longer been troubled about the inadequacies in accommodation, flight arrangements, ticket refunds etc that they  hitherto protested about. 

Not everybody would know, but I believe the Honorable Minister of Sports can honestly testify that, for several years now, the government has only provided just about 10% of the funding of the Super Eagles, not because it doesn’t want to but because the national economy is suffering strains with even more critical challenges. But Pinnick has covered up reasonably well as not everybody can. 

Not everybody has the contact and clout to call up state governors to host the Super Eagles at their expense. It was tough hosting the Abuja game and not everybody could have walked into the Central Bank and get them same day to approve sponsorship of N50m for camping, accommodation and feeding of the Super Eagles for the Ghana match.

Truth is most of the present sponsors of our national teams got engaged because of their relationship and esteem for Pinnick and it will be a marketing miracle if they do not pull out if Pinnick leaves, for, as we all know, sponsorship marketing these days derives more from networking and contacts. 

It is not that Pinnick is indispensable. No one is but, as somebody has joked, we might be uncannily edging ourselves to a point where Nigeria can even be walked over at home for failure to fund its Super Eagles to show up. It is eminent and those who know would know. 

This suggests that we must be circumspect in our haste to cast down. The Presidency, the Ministry and stakeholders should need to sit with the leadership of the NFF to understand and work better with each other to ensure future sustainability, because football is only 30% on the pitch and more off the pitch. 

Besides, football development is not only measured by match results but by the opportunities it provides for employment, enterprise and international relations. These are the real areas to work at for that is why football is homed in England despite not performing any well since after they won the 1966 World Cup. 

For those who begrudge Pinnick’s rise into the FIFA Council and Executive Committee of CAF, there is hardly much they can do about it. It was by dint of his personal determination to penetrate the core of world football politics and there is nothing wrong with big ambition. Some other folks want to be governors, senators, ministers etc. He has chosen and pursing his path and with injury to no one. 

Unlike when the last of us who tried same position was officially supported with about $3m to push and get Ghana’s Abedi Pele to make way for him, Pinnick has risen by applying his personal resources. Having latched on Local Content possibilities and initiatives for over two  decades now, he has developed a vast business estate in oil and gas, marine, construction, hospitality and entertainment by which rather than receive allowances and estacodes, he sacrifices his time and substance. The NFF would still need such capacity in the face of the prevailing economic circumstances.

So, it left for us to unlearn the old habits of unbridled strife and resolve, especially in difficult times, to hold together to pursue the future or keep gyrating in the gyre of our excessive and ill propaganda only targetted at the disruption and deliberate destabilisation of our institutions.

*Edoreh is a former Chairman of Lagos Sports Writers Association (SWAN)