It is a serious call by many football stakeholders to correct some of the tactical selections of the Super Eagles team made by the Coach before the main competition proper in Ivory Coast, some had singled out certain players that are not supposed to be part of the team because of their tactical judgement on the said player(s) but we all know that in Football, 1+1 is not two rather it can be 11 however, it is all good all the positive critical analysis is for the fine-tuning of the team for the betterment of the nation at large.
There are Mysteries about the Super Eagles team that many seem not to remember, when you praise them, magnify them, they never make you happy but when you chastise them and do not dample their spirit, it will put them on their toes and the outcome will be less expected.
Same way in the era of the Late Stephen Keshi during the 2013 Afcon Qualifiers the players weren’t fantastic, they struggled to make it through to the competition proper in South Africa and even before the Super Eagles could kick start their campaign, there are series of backlashes on the team and the technical crew and even in the competition proper, the super Eagles struggled all through the games they played, and many were still saying they wouldn’t get to the finals because most of their victories were very slim so, many thought winning the competition would be a *pipe dream* then, until they shocked a lot of them, lifted the trophy at that competition in South Africa in 2013.
Reasons I put it up here, it is not rocket science to note that, Nigerian players possess the highest qualities amongst other African countries playing their footballing trade abroad today, and whatever the few passionate ones are saying concerning the team’s laxity, the players are seeing them and are taking notes of them, and it will propel them to work harder and put up a very good performance at the Afcon proper.
Finally, the significance of all the complaints, and complications surrounding the team before the competition might be a *blessing in disguise due to past incidents and as such, it will spur the players one more time to do the country proud in Ivory Coast by winning the competition.
Chidozie Agbim, during the Chan tournament in South Africa, was criticized, and judged differently by many but Keshi still made him the number one of the team, however, it’s not a yardstick to follow the same route but like they Said ( lightening doesn’t strike twice), it may work for Keshi and not work for Peseiro but, we saw the many saves made by Agbim during the Chan tournament for the Homebase Eagles then, in that competition. Football is not mathematics.
By Mohammad Soliu
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