The headline for today’s column sounds seemingly awkward. I know many readers of this column will likely ask what is the relationship between Euro 24 and Nigerian football? After all, Europe is a continent of its own, while Nigeria is a country within the African continent. Has there been a time when the Africa Cup of Nations is played and we have, to link the tournament to any European country? I have no answer to this question. But as you read this piece you will understand why I try to link what is happening in Germany to Nigerian football.
However, there are certain noticeable features in the tournament, and if properly analysed, will bring to fore the lack of direction that has become the norm in Nigerian football. One will realise that as far as football development is concerned, while the world is advancing, Nigerian football has engaged reverse gear. Put simply, Nigerian football is retrogressing. The sad part is that we behave as if all is well with Nigerian football, when in truth the sport is on life support.
What I have in mind has nothing to do with the quality of football on display in Germany by the 24 teams that started the tournament with Spain and England playing the final on Sunday 14, July 2024.
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First observation, which is of huge significance, is that all the 24 teams that took part in the tournament had their nationals as coach. None of the teams had even a coach from a fellow European country. The implication of this is that these countries have unwavering confidence in the ability of their nationals to steer their national teams. This is not on the basis of patriotism but based on a system in place where the coaches have proved their competence and have excelled. Aside coaching clinics at the very end of every football season in Europe that these coaches avail themselves, there are various coaching institutions that the coaches must attend before they are certified as coaches. These countries have top-notch football leagues of various divisions where these coaches can practice their profession to the fullest.
But this is not the case in Nigeria. The leagues are a caricature of what operates in Europe in terms of management of the clubs and administration of the leagues. With what obtains in Nigerian football, no one is surprised that the managers of Nigerian football do not have confidence in Nigerians coaches. And this is why those clamoring for a foreign coach for the Super Eagles are on the increase. The managers of Nigerian football know that these coaches do not have what it takes to manage the Super Eagles. Is it this coaches that cannot win the continental football club championships-the CAF League; CAF Confederation Cup and the CAF Super Cup-that one will ask to coach the Super Eagles? But are we going to perpetually depend on Europe for coaches to manage the Super Eagles? This is the question that only Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), can answer.
With only two teams left in the race, it means 22 teams have crashed by the way side. And by extension 552 players have exited the tournament. These 552 players are in various age categories. The oldest of these players that have existed the tournament is Portugal’s Pepe at 41 years. His compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo is 39 years and German’s Toni Kross at 34 years. There is Croatian Luka Modric who holds the record of the oldest player to score in Euro history. He’s 38 years. There are many older players but let us limit ourselves to these players.
While Kroos has announced his international retirement following Germany’s 2-1 loss to Spain, Modric, Pepe and Ronaldo are yet to make any pronouncement about their future. The implication of this is that they still want to continue playing for their national teams.
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If the performances of both Pepe and Ronaldo are anything to go by, Pepe could still be excused to continue but age is not on his side as he will be 43 in 2026 should Portugal qualify for the World Cup. At age 43, will he be strong to continue to play at that level? Your guess is as good as mine!
Despite Ronaldo not scoring a goal in the tournament, his teammates and also his country never treated him like a pariah. Imagine if Ronaldo were to be a Nigerian, the media would descend on him and blame him for the failure to qualify for the semis. All manner of write up that would make him to regret ever playing for the country would fill the pages. Modric even missed a penalty. But Croatia did not even cross the group stage. Would Modric have survived the barrage of criticism?
But this is not the case in Nigeria. We have history of making our heroes regret ever representing this country with the way they are treated at the twilight of their careers. Vincent Enyeama is a case in point. He was hounded out of the Super Eagles in a manner that speaks volume. He was treated like a leper. And this is a player that sacrificed his all for the country. The treatment meted out to William Troost-Ekong, the team’s Assistant Captain, the player who played with injury at the last Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’ Ivoire, by the managers of Nigerian football cannot be separated from the crisis in the Super Eagles.
This is the player that was voted the most valuable at the last AFCON, yet he was not called up for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic when the player was available. In my over three decades of sports reporting, I have not witnessed a Nigerian player honored for playing for Nigeria. It is not only players that are treated like a leper. Nigerian coaches are the worst. Late Alloysius Atuegbu went to his grave regretting not only playing for Nigeria but also desiring to coach. He was not the only that suffered such fate. Joe Erico, Amodu Shaibu, Godwin Izilein, these coaches went to their graves with the NFF refusing to pay them their entitlements. But the officials are never owed their entitlements.
The reason behind today’s column is the performance of young Spanish player, Lamine Yamal, who will be 17 today. This professional footballer from Catalonia plays as right winger for Barcelona. He is one of the best young talents in the world. Yamal became the youngest player to score in a European championship when his sublime left footed strike curled in off the post from 18 meters out to equalise for Spain in their semi-final against France last Tuesday. In an instant Spain rejoiced but the world sat up to take notice of a prodigy.
When will Nigerian football going to witness such? It will take a century for such to happen because the system in place does not give room for meritocracy. There is no system in place that will unearth such a talent, and even if such happens by happenstance, such a player will be deemed to be too young to play at the highest level of football. He will be asked to start his football at the U-15, if he was not asked to bring money for him to be called up for any of the under-aged national teams. The absence of a system that will unearth budding talents is the reason why the country prosecutes age-grade tournaments with players whose ages are questionable. Coupled with the win-at-all-cost syndrome that has become the norm in Nigerian football, and not an exception, such young players will have to seek elsewhere to be able to fulfill their God given talents.
Yamal was discovered because of the many academies in Spain. He is a product of Barcelona Academy. Do we have such a system and what are we doing as a country to change the orientation that kills stars? As Shakespeare noted in Julius Ceaser, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
