TonyTheTigerKiller wrote: ↑Sat Mar 30, 2024 4:13 pm
The argument has been raging on for a long time about who’s best suited to handle the SuperEagles. Many, without any real proof, have decided that either Nigerians don’t have the technical expertise to manage the SuperEagles or that those who possess any modicum of competence will ultimate be hampered by corruption. For such people, it is a forgone conclusion that foreign coaches are the only ones worth any consideration. Names like Guardiola, Klopp, Mourinho and even Renard have been put forward as the would be messiahs of Nigerian football. I would like to explain, once and for all, why relying on a foreign coach, irrespective of pedigree, to lead Nigeria to the promised land is merely an exercise in futility.
The ultimate and all encompassing goal of all footballing nations is to win the World Cup at some point. From the very inception of the World Cup about 100 years ago, no foreigner has
ever coached a team to the ultimate victory in the World Cup. The primary reason for that isn’t all that far fetched, if people were to be totally honest and sincere. Football is a cultural sport which different nations approach with a unique vibe all their own. Why is it then so difficult to see that only an indigenous coach who is innately familiar with the peculiarities and psyche of indigenous footballers can get them to perform to the very best of their abilities? The simple answer to that is that it shouldn’t be.
I posed a question, several times mind you, to one of the most notorious and unapologetic protagonists of foreign coaches for the SuperEagles, a question that, needless to say, went unanswered. The incontrovertible fact is that neither one of Guardiola, Klopp or Mourinho has ever coached a national football team or ever qualified one for the World Cup. Am I suggesting that, perhaps, they don’t have what it takes to accomplish a relatively simple feat compared to winning multiple titles in the best leagues in the world? Well, a closer examination of that could prove to be really illuminating. The club teams coached by the aforementioned guys are all essentially
All Star teams composed of the very best players the entire world has to offer. No national team in the world fits that description, least of all, the SuperEagles. In fact, I am willing to bet the very last dollar in my possession that if Augustine Eguavoen were to be allowed to coach either one of those club teams, he would fare no worse than any of the supposedly esteemed white gentlemen.
Now, let’s focus on the primary subject of our discussion, Nigeria. Many of you will put forth the argument that on two of the three occasions we won AFCON, we were led to victory with a foreigner at the helm. Let’s dive a little deeper into that. First, there was Brazilian Otto Gloria who came to coach Nigeria at a time when the federal government of Nigeria was deeply committed to football development. They built a sparkling new stadium in which we hosted Africa and provide the required resources to enable us win the tournament. It wasn’t so much what Gloria did as it is the fact that Christian Chukwu, Segun Odegbami and Mudashiru Lawal were all willing to lay down their lives on the pitch in order for us to win. It took 14 years after that and a succession of foreign coaches before we tasted AFCON victory once again. Clemens Westerhoff came to Nigeria in 1989 but it took him all of five years to raise a team that was barely able to defeat “minnows” Zambia in the final. Then followed a drought of almost 20 years and a succession of foreign coaches who accomplished nothing except earn themselves massive retirement incomes. In 2013, along came Stephen Keshi and his mostly unheralded bunch of “Hey Yous” to show everyone how it’s supposed to be done. Most of you will recall that during this period of drought, a certain gentleman by the name of Shuaibu Amodu qualified Nigeria twice for the World Cup but was sidestepped on both occasions. In 2014, the NFF had no choice, due to public sentiments, but to allow Stephen Keshi to take Nigeria to the World Cup and he performed creditably in spite of all the stumbling blocks that were thrown at him.
If you’ve been paying attention, you would know without an iota of doubt that Nigeria’s football fortunes lie entirely with Nigeria. We must bite the bullet now, rather than later, in order to be successful in the near future
Cheers.