Dear Keshi,
I would not want to dwell on the cliché of who would have been best invited and who deserved not to; we have a squad for the tournament and our focus should be on the squad and nothing more.
We need to tell ourselves the truth and embrace the stark realities that have come to register in our minds. Our first match against Iran proved that we are nowhere close to becoming a threat in the on-going World Cup. The first half of the match was filled with nothing but uncoordinated, and selfish patterns of play that showed that Africa might be the only battle ground where fiery threats can be issued; the AFCON, I mean.
It was obvious that our team lacked communication, effective ball control, decent set piece(s) takers, and most of all, players with foresight. Our team went upfront several times without threatening the Iranian defence, whereas a single threat at our goal looked like they had scored. We wasted many opportunities and for once, the Eagles’ looked like they had no striker almost all through the match.
The game was quite disappointing until the introduction of Shola Ameobi and Osaze Odemwingie; our players lacked motivation and they played like nothing was at stake. Nigeria is like every other team in the tournament, and though it may look or sound absurd that we could shake the footballing world, it is possible because even some of the world greats have been shocked, humiliated and humbled, even at the initial stage of the present World Cup; but this is not to say that we should wallow in consolation as a result of our ineptitude to make the most of the moment when the need arose.
I do not mean to under-rate Iran, they proved a point against us and they have shown that they have a chance of walking out of the group stage; every team has a chance, so I believe. But still, must we deny and ignore the realities that winning was certain and probably the only means of easing our passage into the next phase of the World Cup?
The match against Iran proved that the Nigerian squad are made up of mediocres, slow pokes and over-rated/over-hyped players who know nothing about what to do with the ball when it gets to them. However, I am forced to make an exception, not by performance, but by consistency and style of play, passion and drive for motivation and a model of how Nigerian players should play – Osaze Odemwingie.
It was obvious tonight was a mess, a joke and a true picture of what the Super Eagles’ really is. Now I believe in the FIFA ranking more than ever; we are not close to being what we think we are. Mediocrity has destroyed our team.
We have lived on mathematical football for so long; the kind of football where we start praying that Chelsea lose to Eyimba, while Real Madrid must draw with Bukola Babes for us to qualify to the next phase. We need to stop living in the past of the AFCON victory; we need to know that the present stage is one where mediocrity is greeted with a price. After tonight’s match, I thought of how we would be able to cope with a fiery side as Bosnia and Argentina after watching their match.
Emenike, Ahmed Musa and Victor Moses might have piloted our woeful performance tonight but I believe that you, Keshi, are responsible, largely for what happened. Deploying a 5-4-1 formation which is alien to the team is somewhat disturbing. The players had a lot of difficulties in moving; they were eager to get the ball forward to the wasteful Emenike, thus launching uncoordinated attacks and less motivating pattern of plays. We must understand that the World Cup does not need three strikes to make an out, two is enough and another draw could put out our dreams of rubbing shoulders with the ‘big-teams’ of the world.
The entire defence was porous; Dejegah and Reza moved in comfortably and hurled strikes towards our goal while the ONLY notable attempt we remember is Osaze’s beautiful strike (though a foul).
While most Nigerians defended your interest by claiming that the woeful friendly matches we had was so because the players were wary of picking up injuries. Now the friendlies are over and the real deal is here. Please prove to Nigerians that winning the AFCON was never a stroke of luck. We are not expecting you to bring home the World Cup trophy; rather, we want you to lead this team beyond the group stages. But if it eventually happens that you win the trophy for us, we will hold on to your heroic deeds and the world will remember the ex-player who won the trophy with his men.
While we day-dream about the possibility of winning the World Cup when the group stages survival is gradually choking, it would be wise if you can re-strategize and have a good rethink on how to make the team better. Enyeama was our saving grace tonight, but the big question is ‘would he be able to save us at the hands of Angel Di Maria, Lionel Messi, Sergio Kun Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic with a defence as horrible as the one we have now?
A gentle reminder of our last matches before now:
Nigeria 4 - 3 Morocco
Wed 29/01/14
Nigeria 0 - 0 Ghana
Sat 01/02/14
Zimbabwe 0 - 1 Nigeria
Thu 06/03/14
Mexico 0 - 0 Nigeria
Wed 28/05/14
Nigeria 2 - 2 Scotland
Wed 04/06/14
Greece 0 - 0 Nigeria
Sat 07/06/14
United States 2 - 1 Nigeria
Mon 16/06/14
Iran 0 - 0 Nigeria
NB: 8 matches, 2 wins, 1 loss, 5 draws
The smile on your face after the match showed you are way contented with the outcome; well, for supporters of the Eagles, we're tired of draws and disappointing performances.
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