I know that if you're a Nigerian and you support the super eagles, you must've at some point thought or felt that they should be good enough to always win the CAF Nations Cup and even the world cup. This was very evident with the violence that erupted at the MKO Abiola stadium when we lost the world cup qualifiers to Ghana. It was a clear sign that the fans thought we had no right to lose to our West African neighbours.
So the CAF African best has just been announced and out of the array of our supposed fantastic and quality repertoire of players, only one player made the 30 man list. That man plays for a mid-table team in France. He doesn't turn out for the big teams in Germany, England, Spain, or Italy. In contrast, Egypt has 4 players on the list, Morocco has 4 players, Senegal has 5 players Cameroon has 3 players and even Burkina Faso has 3 players.
Even in the interclub category, no Nigerian club made the cut or was even close to the cut. In the number of titles won, the eagles are ranked 4th overall with 3 titles, behind the likes of Egypt (6), Cameroon (5) and Ghana (4).
So what really is our criteria for judging that the super eagles should win any tournament or qualifiers that they partake in?
This is a Nigerian team that comprises of Troost Ekong, Leon Balogun and Kenneth Omeruo who are not definite starters at their clubs, as their preferred Centre backs. Ola Aina who's an average player playing for a poor Torino team, Kalvin Bassey and Zaidu, the only defenders playing regularly for decent teams in their own leagues.
The midfield comprises of Ndidi who has been injured for the best part and Joe Aribo as the only two players who are playing above the average line. They are then complimented by a below average Etebo, and an ever promising but often disappointing Iwobi, then you can add the unproven Bonkes and Nwakalis. The forward line is led by a burgeoning Osimhen, flanked by a Chukwueze who seems to leave his feathers in Spain anytime he turns out for the eagles, Iheanacho who's struggling to emerge from Vardy's shadows and Moses Simon who needs to improve on his decision making.
Then you can add the likes of Emmanuel Dennis, Ademola Lookman who are both on the average line and trying to find their footing in the team and the evergreen but "should-be-retiring" Ahmed Musa who offers little to nothing to this team.
The truth is, the super eagles is an average team, filled with average players playing for average teams in Europe, struggling to play with each other but expected to deliver world class performances regularly, and become world beaters. This is an eagles team that has lost its feathers, and cannot fly high.
The fact is that will never happen untill we begin to get a lot of things right. No matter how hard we pray, no matter the amount of money we promise these players and no matter the amount of motivation showered on them by president, they will always come short because the quality is limited and the dedication is nonexistent. Nigeria doesn't have consistent worldclass talent like Salah, Mane, Kessie, Mahrez, Koulibaly, Partey, Zaha, Haller and the rest. The players we currently have are below these guys' standard.
You don't need to have 10 of them in the team, you only need 2 or 3 to inspire and lead the team. Right now Nigeria lacks that, we do not have the leadership and experience of a proven winner. We need to go back to the drawing board and try to scout our streets and schools for the next best talents. We need to develop our league to meet the standards set by the northern and South African teams.
We can't continue relying solely on imported players who were born and developed in Europe. We have to lay a proper foundation for the talents here to thrive and be easily discovered and developed. This is a country of over 200 million people and everyday talents are dying on our streets for lack of a proper and effective channel for development. There are a lot Kanus, Olisehs, Okochas, Aghahowas, Yekinis etc that are waiting to be discovered.
Untill we're able to raise the standard and produce players that can stand toe to toe with their counterparts week in week out, then there's no justification for the kind of expectation we put on this team. They will only continue to disappoint us.
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