Less than twenty-four hours after Nigeria became the first African country to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 by subduing Ethiopia 2-0 in Calabar on November 16, BBC Sport quoted Nigeria captain Vincent Enyeama as saying “[Are we going] to make an impression at the World Cup? No, we can actually win it…I wouldn’t be surprised if Nigeria win the World Cup one day – maybe with me. It’s just a matter of time and moment. Everything is possible. Impossible is nothing”.
There is no gain saying that every country (whether high or low) that goes to the World Cup will like to win it, and to that extent Enyeama’s reported comment may not be expected to be as attention-grabbing as it has been.
Up till the time of going to press a few days ago, however, I received calls from several readers of this column who wanted to know whether Enyeama’s optimism was justified. Remarkably, the tone of each caller’s voice suggested that he longed to hear me say that we were ready to lift the Cup. After all, we are current champions of Africa and we have won the U17 version of the World Cup so often that nobody is counting any more.
Of course, Nigeria will “win the World Cup one day”, but maybe not just yet. We should not forget that we have not even won any World Cup match since we beat Bulgaria in France ‘98 despite being in two other editions since then. If history is anything to go by then we must take cognisance of the fact that no team ever won it without a carefully articulated long-term program. Without exception, every team that ever won it (Brazil, Italy, Germany, Argentina, Uruguay, England, France, and Spain) had common integral features in the football sector: credible administration that could count on ready support from the public and private sectors; international-standard professional domestic league; and reliable early development structure for players. Can anyone say that we have bragging rights to any of them? As I have tried to point out umpteen times before, we are exceptionally endowed, but instead of leveraging on it we have relied only on mere potential.
In the elite world there is only a thin line between the best and the rest. It is analogous to a sprint where only milliseconds may separate the winner from others. What gives the more consistent winner the competitive edge is usually the degree of his endowment and the quality of the other ingredients or features that go into preparing him for each contest.
However, in our perpetually confused state, I see a ray of hope. Probably for the first time since 1985 our team that won the FIFA U17 WC in the UAE this year “looked” more U17 than not. But even in this area we are yet to properly articulate a reliable early development structure for players. That is why, in addition to the other issues, it may take a while before we conquer the world where it matters most.
But our curious predilection for self-limiting choices notwithstanding, what stands our senior team out among other teams in Africa and keeps hope alive for a particularly brilliant performance in Brazil 2014 is the magic of Head Coach Stephen Keshi. Beyond his personal achievement of now being one of the extremely few coaches from any part of the world to qualify two different countries (Togo and Nigeria) for the FIFA World Cup in 2006 and 2014, respectively, Keshi has, in only two years, put together what has become a truly remarkable team. We do not need to be reminded that he won AFCON 2013 even when the Super Eagles were underdogs in the competition. He qualified us for CHAN on his first try. And he has now qualified us for the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil.
What better test of the true character of the team than to schedule a friendly match with four-time World Cup winners Italy in faraway England barely 48 hours after the crucial FIFA World Cup 2014 qualification decider in Calabar!Instructively, Germany coach Joachim Low had described Italy as”…artisan illusionists and unique in the world…They are able to control, change and adjust their style like nobody else. When you think you’ve got the game in hand, they emerge and change everything”. Remember too that we were beaten 2-1 the last time the two countries met in the FIFA World Cup USA ‘94.
But, to the big surprise of many football pundits, Italy only managed to force Nigeria to a 2-2 draw in a particularly enthralling and pulsating game. Yes, this team can go places! Amazingly, Keshi even believed that they could have done better despite the exceedingly challenging circumstances.
“Maybe, we had too much of respect for them but I am sure if by chance we meet at the World Cup, we will put up a better performance…” he stated confidently. And to ensure that the players will be ready to go into battle at short notice he reminded them appropriately that”It’s time to go back and work hard for our various club sides and stay healthy… those who want to be part of the team must remain fit and play regularly for their club sides…”
I do not have any doubt whatsoever that if Keshi is given the required support by the ‘NFF’ we may do better in Brazil 2014 than we have ever done before.
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