Sports

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Nigerians are divided over their assessment of the performance of the Super Eagles in the just-Confederations Cup in Brazil

|  By Anayo Ezugwu  |  Jul. 15, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

MIXED reactions have continued to trail the early ouster of the Super Eagles of Nigeria from the just-concluded FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil. Some Nigerians have described the performance of the team as satisfactory, while others said the team is technically bereft and called for the replacement of Stephen Keshi, chief coach, with a foreign coach to restore the lost glory of the national team.

To many soccer loving Nigerians, it was a failed expedition for the country at the FIFA Confederations Cup, with two losses, one win and the inability to make it out of the group stage.  The Stephen Keshi led team was unable to reach the last four of the competition despite recording a 6-1 win over Tahiti in its first game. The Super Eagles lost 2-1 to Uruguay and 3-0 to the world and European champions, Spain.

But Christian Chukwu, former Super Eagles chief coach, said that the only thing lacking in the team was experience. He blamed the team’s inability to progress to the semi-finals on the inexperience of the players. “People keep saying we missed strikers like Obafemi Martins and Osaze Odemwingie, but that is not the issue. When these players were there and did not play to our satisfaction, we clamoured for other players to be included. What is missing in this team is experience. We should not forget that key players like Victor Moses and Emmanuel Emenike were not available for this tournament. If this crop of players continues to play at the big stage just as they did at the Confederations Cup, they’ll gradually acquire what is needed to win games at the top level,” he said.

Mutiu Adepoju, former Super Eagles player, said the Eagles put up a brave showing at the Confederations Cup. He said that the team’s outing in Brazil was a laudable achievement and part of the building process. He believes there are lots of positive benefits to derive from the Super Eagles outing rather than castigating the team for not reaching the semi-finals. “The team didn’t perform badly because we saw a team that can create chances. They even impressed the fans with good football. Though we lost some scoring chances, the good thing is that we were able to discover that we have boys that can hold their own in the absence of the big boys and create scoring chances,” Adepoju said.

Paul Okoku, former Super Eagles player, also, said Keshi should not be blamed for Nigeria’s poor performance at the just concluded FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil. He said that what happened at the Confederations Cup was not the fault of Keshi. “Keshi has, in the short time that he has been coach of the Super Eagles, been able to transform the team from mere contenders to continental champions. We have seen the introduction of some new and exciting local players, who are gradually coming of age. It is not going to be automatic to get to the peak. It takes time and from what is on the ground, we are going forward. We lost to Spain, which without any doubt, is the best team in the world. Spain defeated Italy 4-0 in the final of the last European Championships. It also made Uruguay look ordinary when both teams met at the Confederations Cup. The team is the best and any team losing to Spain should not be ashamed,” he said.

Kojo Williams, former Nigeria Football Association, NFA, chairman, agrees that the team did well but said that it was technically bereft of strikers. He said that the team needed sound technical advisers to come in and work with our team, because if the job is left for the present coaches, then the team would suffer more defeats in the future. “If we are contented being among the best in Africa, I don’t have any problem with that. We can continue with what we are doing with Keshi but if we want to be among the best in the world, then we must help Keshi with a good foreign coach,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, Martins Osaile, sports analyst, said Keshi’s managerial ability was poor as there was no reason for him to have left some of Nigeria’s most experienced players out of the squad that prosecuted the Confederations Cup in Brazil. On the bonus crisis which rocked the team before the confederations cup, the National Sports Commission and the NFF, on June 26, said that the FIFA Confederations Cup would be the last competition where the Super Eagles would earn the controversial $10,000 each for winning a game.

An official of the NSC said that the meeting of the football house has been scheduled for the coach and players’ representatives to cordially sort out their differences on the matter. “It is not only the winning bonus that the NFF or NSC attends to; the bill is too huge for them to bear. These people also get different types of allowances in camp. If you calculate what it costs for each game, then people will understand that under the current state of affairs, it is very difficult to continue at that tempo. Maybe in the future, the bonus can be increased but for now, we have to face the reality. The national teams in the male and female categories are many and so all these and many other factors have to be taken into consideration,” the official said.

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