coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Stephen
Keshi, has described the failure of the national
football team to qualify for next year’s African
Cup of Nations event as heartbreaking.
In a statement posted on his Twitter page after
the encounter with South Africa’s Bafana Bafana
in Uyo on Wednesday, Keshi said, “Our boys
showed determination to pull an equaliser, but it
was not good enough.”
In an interview with online football magazine,
goal.com , former Super Eagles star, Austin
Okocha, had condemned the lacklustre
performance of the team.
Blaming the players for the team’s exit, Okocha
questioned their passion for the game and
patriotism.
He said, “I think, to be honest, we will always
produce talented players. But the question is
whether they are passionate enough. People put
pressure on them because it seems they don’t
really care about the result.
“I think the players must wake up to their
collective responsibility. Before they realise it,
they are back in African football.”
The former captain of the Eagles told goal.com
that the players did not take the game seriously
until it was too late, saying they would have
done well if they had qualified for the finals
holding in Equatorial Guinea next year.
“I have no doubt that had we managed to
qualify, we would have had a good tournament
because you have to play really well once it
comes to the tournament itself. The qualifiers
are sometimes a bit tricky in Africa,” Okocha
said.
The Nigerian Football Federation has taken full
responsibility for the Super Eagles’ exit from the
competition, saying it was not the best time to
trade blames.
But the NFF’s humble position has not stopped
thousands of Nigerians, who took to the social
media after the match, to express their anger
and frustration, blaming the Federal Government,
football house, the coach and the players for
their roles in the Super Eagles’ failure.
According to a statement posted on Twitter by
Isioma Isichei, though Keshi may have his
shortcomings, the challenges facing the
country’s football transcend him. Isichei
observed that vigorous policies and long-term
goals required to build an efficient national team
were lacking.
She added that the NFF could avoid a recurrence
of such a disappointing Nations Cup campaign in
the future by focusing on the development of
Nigerian football and not through monetary
benefits.
Arguing on Facebook, Rachael Mayomi noted
that Keshi’s decisions lacked depth. She said the
home-based players, whom he refused to use,
could have performed better during the game.
Ugbah Lorenzo chided the coach for his failure
to understand the mentality of foreign players.
He said their local counterparts would naturally
need a win – a fact that Keshi took for granted
– just as Adesoye Alaoluwa argued that the poor
performance was an indication that the country
had no quality footballer. The exit, he said,
provided football administrators an opportunity
to rid the national team of mediocres and to
embark on a process of rebuilding it.
But Precious Eghaghe was not surprised by the
failure of the defending champions to qualify
because, according to him, NFF had engaged in a
self-destructive mission.
Meanwhile, fans of the Peoples Democratic Party
and the opposition have seized the ousting of
the Super Eagles to trade blame on who is
responsible. Responding to the story on The
Punch , Jarjah said the NFF “nearly saved Nigeria
this embarrassment” until Jonathan interfered in
the process and directed that Keshi be recalled.
Several other individuals expressed the same
opinion, blaming the sad result on the
President’s interference.
But Kim Roland said the reference to Jonathan’s
intervention in the crisis as being responsible
was a cheap argument. He said those who
blamed the President were only seeking a cheap
point for the opposition party.
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