IN a couple of days, Nigerian football will face a huge moment of truth as the African Cup of Nations tagged AFCON 2021 gets underway in Cameroon. As usual, expectations are high of a good outing by the Super Eagles in Africa’s showpiece tournament. This year’s tournament in five Cameroonian cities is the 33rd edition after the inaugural tournament hosted by Sudan in 1957.

In the 24-team finals, all eyes will be on the usual suspects, particularly the hosts, the defending champions Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Egypt, and the Eagles. Tunisia, the title winners at home in 2004, are normally a strong side. As is normal in a competition of this magnitude, there will be a few upsets. For this, look no further than Sudan, the champions in 1970. The Secretary Birds eliminated South Africa in the qualifiers. Ghana, four-time champions, whose last title was in 1982, possess the firepower to last the distance.

Despite the desire of the Eagles fans, the fate of the team is not so predictable. Back in December, Sunday Dare, the Minister of Youth and Sports, set the tone, stating, “The Super Eagles will not disappoint Nigerians.” His optimism comes despite a heavy dose of reality that preparations have not gone smoothly for the three-time continental champions. Although the Eagles lifted the trophy in 1980, 1994 and 2013, they had been facing a series of challenges and disappointments that marred their preparations for this special outing. Nigeria shot itself in the foot when Sani Abacha cancelled the team’s title defence unilaterally in 1996 over a diplomatic row with hosts South Africa when the late dictator executed the Ogoni Nine.

Africa’s biggest football event will kick off on January 9 with a clash between Cameroon and Burkina Faso at the Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé. Undeniably, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the calendar of the event, which has been postponed twice in the past year in response to the dangers of the coronavirus, with all its devastating effect on human activities. With the Delta and Omicron variants of the virus still in circulation, there are more worries that the players might get infected and hence, dampen more hopes.

Besides, Nigeria’s preparations were hampered by the dilly-dallying of the Nigeria Football Federation board led by Amaju Pinnick, and the repeated interference of the sports minister. A few weeks to the event, the former coach, Gernot Rohr, was fired by the NFF and the board appointed Augustine Eguavoen as interim manager. The move led to an uproar as football fans wondered why the NFF board waited for so long before the decision to sack Rohr was finally, and belatedly, reached. While many were still trying to set an agenda for Eguavoen, the NFF, 12 days to the AFCON, announced the appointment of Portuguese, Jose Peseiro, as the Eagles manager. This is a most confusing move.

The Eagles face a major test early. That comes in their first Group D match versus Egypt on January 11 at the Roumdé Adjia Stadium in Garoua. Tipped for the most valuable player of the tournament title, Mohammed Salah could make life difficult for Nigeria. He will be supported by Mohamed Elneny and Ramadan Sobhi. Apart from that, Sudan will offer a stern test for the Eagles. The last team in the group is Guinea Bissau.

With the AFCON just around the corner, no doubt, the task before the new coach and his assistants is huge. Leading striker, Victor Osimhen, is out of the team with injury and COVID-19 concerns. The introduction of four new players to the line-up with Nigeria facing Egypt first, the team seems imbalanced. The Eagles also seem to lack leadership. Players trickle into camp. Odion Ighalo’s Saudi Arabian club played games with his release. To maintain focus and boost the confidence of the younger lads, it is crucial to have two or three players play leadership roles in the team on and off the pitch.

Rohr’s exit and the appointment of Peseiro over Eguavoen at such critical moments continue to reveal the shortcomings of the leadership of the NFF. This is not the first time the NFF would sack coaches close to tournaments. Philippe Troussier, who qualified Nigeria for the France ’98 World Cup, was sacked simply because he was not rated a world-class coach and Nigeria needed one to go to the World Cup. Bora Milutinovic was engaged and his campaign in France was a disappointing one. The same step was taken before Korea/Japan 2002 after Shaibu Amodu qualified the country for the World Cup; he was sacked and replaced by Adegboye Onigbinde. Again, Nigeria failed woefully in Korea/Japan. Just before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Lars Lagerback was called in to replace Amodu. Nigeria exited early in the tournament as well.

Yet, with the quality of players Nigeria can call up from various leagues around the world, the country should be competitive in a tournament like the AFCON. Dare should restrict himself to his supervisory role as a minister. He is not a member of the NFF board, which is saddled with the responsibility of making sure that things go well in matters concerning football in the country.

The NFF needs to stop creating chaos and confusion by putting its house in order and ensure that decisions are taken in ways that will not create negative impact on the Eagles. The board should ensure that a well-equipped medical team is made available for the athletes given the high infection rate of the COVID-19 variants in circulation.

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