Argentina, don’t cry for Nigeria

Argentina, don’t cry for Nigeria

November 19, 1977.

We had already been checked in at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. We fixed ourselves in the waiting room. Thousands of well wishers turned out to see us off. We waited anxiously for our flight to come. Suddenly, we fell into a deep slumber. Then an announcer’s voice brought us round: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please… flight No. 78 to Argentina has finally been cancelled. This is due to a terrible storm that cut across from North Africa.’ We all sat still, unable to move.

That describes the situation in which millions of Nigerians found themselves when our national soccer ambassadors – the Green Eagles – were thrown out of the race for Argentina ’78. On our own soil, the Tunisian national soccer squad – a team which failed to beat us on their own ground on September 25 – accomplished an impossible mission by seizing the weapon for FIFA global battle right under our nose.

And so, another lifetime opportunity has been thrown into the lagoon. Poor Eagles! They have never had it so good. Come to think of it, had the Eagles qualified to go to Argentina, they could have been given 20 Peugeot 504 GL cars. But these have also been thrown into the lagoon through no fault of theirs. Footballers in this great nation have never had it so rosy. Under normal circumstances, that Peugeot promise was enough to induce the Eagles to devour the Tunisians within the first 15 minutes of the Saturday confrontation … cars that some of them may not get to ride in their lifetime!

But in a situation where the people you were fighting for revolted against you, what else could you do? According to a report, thousands of soccer fans who turned up to cheer the Eagles turned against them following the 300 per cent increase in the gate fee for the popular side.

Slogans like ‘Up Tunisia! Down Eagles! Down NFA!’ were chorused by demonstrating fans who refused to enter the stadium. It has never happened before. The NSC/NFA had called for a massive support but later ‘electrified’ the turnstiles by inflating the gate fee three-fold.

Some of the Eagles claimed that the NSC and NFA officials neglected them on return from Cairo where they lost 3 – 1 to the Egyptians. If that claim is true, then these two bodies have woefully failed the nation. From my experience, what most players hate is neglect. After all, all hopes were not lost after our defeat by Egypt. The NSC and NFA could have paid more attention to the Eagles after the Cairo defeat which came through no fault of theirs. The Eagles were simply victims of NSC/NFA’s indecision and immaturity. What sense was there in calling for massive support for a pack of Eagles whose wings had been clipped by the NSC and NFA?

Adieu, Argentina. But please don’t cry for us. We don’t deserve your tears.

When a tree can make a forest

Although the Eagles’ defeat is now history, one question that bothers me is why was it impossible to fly home Thompson Usiyan to play in the round-robin league when it was evident that the vacuum he had created could not be successfully filled? The saying that a tree cannot make a forest has thus been made nonsense of. Ever since Usiyan left in July, goal scoring had become a matter of luck for the Eagles. Most of the openings created by our wingers were thrown into the lagoon from within the six-yard box. And as a result, the wingers, Odegbami in particular, had to create goals and score them at the same time. The NSC/NFA are duty bound to tell the nation why it was impossible to fly home Usiyan.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the crisis, a statement credited to the NFA stated that all members of the Eagles recalled to camp will have to resign their membership of their existing clubs. This move is highly commendable but I doubt if majority of the dependable Eagles would respond positively to it unless they are convinced they can have a fair deal while serving the NSC/NFA.

What the NFA should do is to look for a new breed of Eagles. Those star members of the Eagles, who are the pillars of their clubs, will be very unwilling to come back. Their clubs will work against such a move. After all, it was strongly felt that Rangers/IICC players in the Eagles reserved their energy for the decisive second leg final encounter of the African Cup Winners Cup to be played in Kaduna today.

It cannot be ruled out that their clubs have told them to take it easy… that if they go to Argentina, they can never win the FIFA Cup. So, why wouldn’t they reserve their energy for the Cup Winners Cup which they have 100 per cent chance of winning?

It will be impossible to breed a new bunch of Eagles that can hold their own at the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations Finals which will be held in Accra/Kumasi, Ghana, next March. Between now and March, therefore, we still have to rely on those dependable Eagles. The new breed of Eagles can be kept in view to take over from where the disbanded ones will leave off. That is not to say that members of the disbanded Eagles who are good and fit enough to join the new squad cannot be retained after the Accra/Kumasi hostilities.