When the draw for the Qatar 2022 playoffs was made in Cameroon during the last Africa Cup of Nations, we observed it was a relief to many that the country was not drawn to play against dreaded teams like Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria who were in same pot like Nigeria as seeded teams according to the rankings, but there were also fears to avoid tough teams like Egypt and Cameroon in the other pot.

All these never happened as the Super Eagles were drawn to play Black Stars of Ghana. Despite the traditional rivalry between both countries, Nigeria was clear favourite to clinch the ticket to Qatar based on the current form of most of the top players and the fact that Ghana did not do well, crashing out in the first round of the AFCON in Cameroon. We make bold to say football seems to be at the lowest ebb in the country because after the AFCON failure, the Ghanaians rose to the occasion against Nigeria to pick a prestigious World Cup ticket. We stated earlier that the first leg of the encounter would be most crucial to determine the winner.

It will be recalled that the Eagles had chances to at least score one or two goals in Kumasi but they were simply wayward. The crucial away goal was not recorded and in the reverse fixture in Abuja, the Black Stars drew the first blood as early as the 10th minute and the Eagles only managed to equalise via a penalty. The away goal was enough to send Ghana to Qatar as Nigeria misses the World Cup finals experience for the first time in 16 years. Incidentally, it was the same coach, Austin Eguavoen, who was in charge when the country last failed to clinch a ticket to the Germany 2006 World Cup.

Following this latest reversal, the entire football scene is comatose and the expectation of many in business and professional works have been dashed with the World Cup no show. The ouster of the team was like a time bomb waiting to explode. When the playoff list was released, the Interim Manager did not have enough midfielders in the team such that Innocent Bonke, who was not even in the standby list, was drafted in for injured Wilfred Ndidi.

Eguavoen shocked everyone when he revealed Ogenyi Onazi made the standby list so that he could “pacify some people”. It was also a shock that players like Paul Onuachu and Taiwo Awoniyi failed to make the list while Akinkunmi Amao made the main list. In the second leg in Abuja, the battle was won in the midfield where Nigeria lacked creativity and also good defensive midfielders.

It was a serious indictment that the Eagles failed to score in open play over 180 minutes. Eyebrows were raised when Eguavoen’s first change in Abuja was Shehu Abdullahi at a time Nigeria was looking for the vital winner. He then left a proven goal getter, Kelechi Iheanacho on the bench and introduced Ahmed Musa. Incidentally, just a few days after the Qatar 2022-no-show in Abuja, the same Iheanacho was splendid against Manchester United in which he scored the game’s first goal for his Premiership side, Leicester City. It was indeed a sad commentary of the ability of the Eagles’ handler as Otto Addo of Ghana showed his superiority over deficient Eguavoen.

We believe this could be a setback for the indigenous coaches generally as the authorities could be looking at engaging foreign handlers again for the senior national team. The Nigeria Football Federation chieftains despite promises made to deliver the ticket to Qatar failed just as some powerful Nigerians were said to have influenced the list of Eguavoen for the second leg match. It is a shame we find ourselves in this situation with the array of quality players in the team. Eguavoen’s job is done as interim boss even before he was fired by the NFF and if the federation is bold enough, Emmanuel Amuneke should be allowed to start a new chapter with the Eagles. And why not? After all, about 70 per cent of the current players were with the former Barcelona player at junior level in the national team.

Eagles and indeed the NFF need a breath of fresh air. Nigeria surely deserves better and a complete overhauling of the system should start now! The reason is simple. Many Nigerians love football with so much passion. Football is like a religion and when crucial games or competitions come up, Nigerians speak with one voice. Apart from club affiliations both at domestic levels and abroad whereby fans of the game throw banters at one another, national team football unites the people. Whatever the state of Nigeria’s economy or issues in the society, football is one game that soothes nerves especially when the country’s national team records victories or wins major competitions at continental and global level.

We remember the 1980 Nations Cup win of the Super Eagles and also the Olympic gold medal won in the football event of the Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games are other notable examples of how the fans of football react to successes. Governments at state and centre also shower national teams with cash gifts, national honours among other rewards to encourage footballers or athletes generally and encourage them to do more next time. The ministry of sports must work with the NFF to fashion a new course for the country’s football now that the technical crew has been disbanded and with the AFCON qualifiers is around the corner. Merit must prevail in the determination of the country’s representative in future national assignments.

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