Haruna Babangida - unfulfilled talent

[deanotito]

I tell people all the time that African players have an especially uneven road to stardom and it’s why we shouldn’t only wait for the validation of oyinbos before we recognize talent. Many opps for the career of an African player to go sideways and it’s not about talent

[oyek]

Poor lad, one would think he would have been able to make it at one of the other clubs since he was so talented.

Actually seems like he was a very talented player

Haruna was a supreme talent. I recall one of those pre-WC 1998 discussions on CE with a Spaniard, and Haruna being touted as "the future" of Barca.

Haruna was one of the standouts (if not the standout player) at the 1999 U20 AFCON, but because that team lost in the final to host Ghana on a Laryea Kingston goal (Haruna was injured in either the s-final against Mali or the final), the team was immediately DISBANDED with under a month before the 1999 U20 WYC (which Nigeria was determined to "host-and-win") and an almost entirely new team assembled under a new coach (then SE coach Thijs Libregts). A still injured Haruna was one of the only handful of players to survive the post-AYC cull, but the half-fit Haruna was barely an afterthought as two of the new players, Pius Ikedia and Julius Aghahowa, assumed supremacy in the new Flying Eagles' attack.

Haruna made only one more brief appearance on the national team scene, with his SOLITARY cap under Chukwu in the friendly in Tokyo, when under threat of being sued by the Japan Football Association, the NFA in desperation gathered up virtually ANY Nigeria footballer who could make it down to Tokyo by game day. SMH
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Wasn't Tunde Disu the U-20 coach that year?

[Enugu II]

I tell people all the time that African players have an especially uneven road to stardom and it’s why we shouldn’t only wait for the validation of oyinbos before we recognize talent. Many opps for the career of an African player to go sideways and it’s not about talent

Dean,

I KPOM your post. It is not about talent at that level. There are numerous talented athletes. The difference at that level is discipline and opportunity.

[deanotito]

I tell people all the time that African players have an especially uneven road to stardom and it’s why we shouldn’t only wait for the validation of oyinbos before we recognize talent. Many opps for the career of an African player to go sideways and it’s not about talent

Dean,

I KPOM your post. It is not about talent at that level. There are numerous talented athletes. The difference at that level is discipline and opportunity.

And part of this comes from experience. I had an opp to become an athlete and was thrust into high level pro sports …. Didn’t need much, but the bit I didn’t know was really important.

I watched Haruna play once or twice for Barca and I have to say, I wasn’t too impressed. But it’s obvious he needed a bit more than he got and a bit more attention, and he could have beeen great