Dammy wrote:
Damunk wrote:
hestonap wrote:
Damunk wrote:
danfo driver wrote:
Damunk wrote:
EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA wrote:
NFF is obviously a loyal disciple of everything England. I suppose Boris Johnson will coach this Team.
You are not going to find
the pool of Nigerian talent in Germany or France or Belgium that you'll find in England, for obvious reasons.
Even within Nigeria, evidence suggests the largest pool of talent is in the south east.
What do you want to do about it? If anyone isn't happy they should stop complaining, look into the reasons and improve the quality of competition.
It is what it is.
Dumbing down to satisfy silly sentiment is not an option.
What pool? I assume you are referring to viable options, and not just some useless player with a Nigerian father.
Even at CB, Germany has Udokhai, Akpoguma and Torunarigha.
The word "talent" must be taken into consideration.
Agreed.
My point is about numbers.
You more than most should know there are hundreds of Nigerians playing up and down the UK leagues, only a tiny fraction of whom are even remotely being eyed.
That's all simply down to our historical ties and the sheer weight of numbers of Nigerians living here.
You cant compare that to anywhere else in Europe.
And that is what is and always has been reflected.
John Chidozie and Tunji Banjo were the first.
There was another guy who was a pharmacist - can't recall his name now.
Then came Okwaraji, I think from Germany.
Keshi was the first home-grown to emigrate, first to Ivory Coast then on to Europe.
He opened the gates and the trickle became the flood.
So nor be today.
Damunk,
Not to detract from a very interesting/important topic, but for sake of accuracy the Big Boos (RIP) was not the first homegrown player to emigrate, granted he truly opened the floodgate to Europe.
The late Thunder Balogun played for Peterbrough/Skegnes and QPR in the 50s and Quicksilver Sylvanus Okpala played in Portugal at least a couple of years in Europe before Keshi went to Lokeren in Belgium and he was a relative contemporary to Keshi.
I guess the circumstance of Keshi's move and being the Eagles Captain at the time, meant he was of a significantly higher profile that Okpala's move paled in relative comparison.
On a side note, I recall reading an interview with Peter Rufai talking about how him and Keshi went/were going to go for Trials with Spurs as far back as either 82 or 83.
Thank you hestonap. 'Thunder' never seems to come to mind in these discussions but you are right. My bad.
As for Quicksilver, I wasn't aware he'd gone to Europe so early.
Could it have possibly been while Keshi was still in the Ivory Coast?
Sylvanus Okpalla and Okey Isima left for Portugal around the same time. Richard Owubokiri followed shortly when he moved to Brazil.
The reason why Keshi 'seemed' like the 1st player to go abroad also has to do with the circumstances of his departure from domestic football.
According to Rufai, agents were already speaking to them after the SE, largely made up of a young and unknown bunch, took the continent by storm in 84. Africa had some of the best teams at the 82 World Cup (Cameroon & Algeria) and the SE were not meant to be a factor at the 84 CAN. However, but for Rufai's injury in the Semi Finals, these group of mostly younglins from Nigeria would have won the 84 Nations' Cup.
So, Keshi, Rufai & a group of others were taken abroad by an agent before an important World Cup qualifier, & even though they made it back to the country on time, Keshi had to go to Benin to sort out some things. Keshi & some of the NNB crew came to camp late & the NFA Chairman, Tony Ikhazobor banned them from all football for a year.
That is how a couple of them went to Cote D'Ivoire & even Benin Republic. Keshi was in Ivory Coast for a year or two and then to Belgium. The 1983 - 86 period also saw serious economic downturn in Nigeria, and most of the players now saw just how much more they could earn in Ivory Coast and eventually Belgium & France, as clubs in both of those European leagues had a good eye on the Ivorian league.
Eventually, Nigerians just started moving directly to Europe (mostly Belgium) & it hasn't stopped since.
Prior to Keshi, all the guys who moved abroad were largely lost to the National team. A few guys would go to Europe and even US Colleges, but no one (espcially the NFA) cared about going through the trouble of bringing players back for matches when all the needed talent was here at home. I recall Okey Isima coming back and scoring a key goal in a WC qualifier, but the SE was made up of players from the top domestic clubs. With Keshi, Rufai & Yekini gone, the model had to change quickly.
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