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Uncouth Mouth!
By Toyin | December 28, 2009
The list of the Super Eagles players for the CAN 2010 in Angola was released last week to the nation by the coach and the NFF. The 32 man list drew a lot of comments from fans across the country and as to be expected, various questions were raised as to the fitness and the suitability of some of the players knowing how close the game is to commencement. In particular, the fitness of such players as Uche Kalu, Yusuff Ayila, Joseph Yobo, Yakubu etc were highlighted as these are the guys that will form the fulcrum of the team come January.
Personally, I have no ax to grind with Ahmodu for his choice of players and neither would it matter if I do; in Nigeria, people in ‘big positions’ hardly listened to others advice. My grouse with the man is his level of arrogance and self adulation! At the Press Conference organized by the NFF in Lagos concerning the forthcoming African Nations Cup in Angola, Ahmodu came out like a man who will never learn anything from history. He was very abusive and totally lacking in decorum.
When asked why he refused to pick any home based player in the first list submitted to the Federation; he threw caution to the wind and declared gleefully that the local league is nothing to write home about. He dismissed the existence of such talents as King Osanga and Chibuzor Okonkwo. The latter, in my honest opinion if far more reliable than the duo of Chidi Odiah and Apam Onyekachi, two players he included in the list despite their questionable fitness.
More significantly, Ahmodu said that there is no good training pitch in the country and as such the Super Eagles would not even ‘jog’ for their fans to see what manner of team he is taking to Angola. My mouth was left hanging at this statement knowing quite well that Nigeria just held the FIFA under 17 championship in the country. What happened to all the stadiums used during the event? I couldn’t help but ask Ahmodu if he has ceased to be a Nigerian!
The Teslim Balogun Stadium, Sanni Abacha Stadium,National Stadium Abuja etc have world class facilities and can hold any major international football match say less training activities of our senior national team. But our dear coach thinks or knows otherwise. And to reaffirm his belief, he declared with gusto that the camp of the team would neither be open to fans nor the press. It is his ‘great’ plan to win the Nations cup!
I have consistently wondered why we never seem to learn from our past mistakes as a people. We keep doing the same thing all the time and expect outstanding result- this is one form of definition of madness! Ghana, Cameroun, Egypt and Ivory Coast, our major competitors have already forwarded their final list to CAF while we are still battling to choose a training camp in Durban SA. Our unserious is legendary and it’s such a shame that we have continued like this all through these years.
Coach Ahmodu Shuaibu desperately needs help. He needs help particularly in the area of communication and relationship. I humbly ask him to go back to school to study communication and put it to practice immediately. He could also do with a bit of humility. Laying claim to being the best coach ever from the country is a bit off mark. I do not know of any trophy that Ahmodu won for the nation; I stand to be enlightened!
While it is arguable that Ahmodu by and large has done well for the country, it is also very true that he’s had more opportunities than most. This is his fifth stint as the Head Coach of the senior national team; a record considering Nigeria’s population! Instead of boasting and making unguarded statements, he should be more concerned about winning Nigeria her first CAN trophy since 1994. Anything short of this, he would be on his way out of the team and history would be repeated twice!
Topics: Biz Football, Nigerian Football, Success Pills, The Gaffer |
December 29th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I will advise that people at helm should mind what they say so they will not be forced to eat their words at other times.