AMODU SHUAIBU


Super Eagles coach to the Angola 2010 Nations Cup, Shaibu Amodu, believes he is the most misunderstood Nigerian at the moment.

In his contract with the Nigeria Football Federation, the coach was tasked to win a World Cup ticket for Nigeria and pick a semifinal ticket for the country at the Nations Cup.

Amodu fulfilled his contractual obligations and wondered why Nigerians are still hard on him especially on the performance of the team at Angola 2010.

The former Orlando Pirates coach said he had little time to prepare the Eagles to get the kind of results Nigerians expected from him.

He explained that he inherited the Eagles in crisis shortly after German Berti Vogts fumbled at the Ghana 2008 Nations Cup where Nigeria lost at the quarterfinals stage.

The Eagles were uncoordinated and uninspiring in Angola. The team defeated Benin, Mozambique, Zambia and Algeria but lost to two quality oppositions; Ghana and Egypt.

Amodu told our correspondent that the events of Angola were caused by many things with the NFF and the Presidential Task Force also part of the blame.

But why is Amodu having problems in spite of his achievements?

The Edo-born tactician said, ”I am a professional and not a politician. I am clean. I face people and tell them the truth, especially when it comes to my job, football.

”People say I am arrogant but I wonder what they are talking about. I am very confident of myself because of my knowledge of the game. I know football and with due respect, I am an institution in this game.

”It is sad that politicians have taken over the game and everybody wants to tell you what to do about your job.

”Again, people say I snub. It is the pressure of the job. I am getting older and the responsibility is getting higher so you cannot expect me to behave or react the same way when I was coaching clubs in Nigeria.

”The expectations are high and there are many issues to manage to ensure one gets the desired results. People just misunderstand me and it hurts. I am just a realistic person. I say things as I see them because of my knowledge of the game.”

Amodu narrated how the NFF humiliated him in Angola by taking two foreign coaches to the same hotel he was staying in Angola.

He also stressed that there were many other distractions from the NFF and the PTF that affected the performance of Nigeria in the competition

”I felt bad especially because it was happening during a major competition and it is bound to affect one psychologically. The NFF officials even told me about the foreign coach issue during a meeting and I was not bothered.

”Players need concentration and motivation but these were difficult to achieve in Angola. After the first match, there were reports about NFF‘s plan to sack me. Imagine that,” he explained.

The selection and tactics for the tournament was a major issue against Amodu but the former BCC Lions coach said the squad for the competition in Angola was the best for the country at that time.

He stressed that he selected the final list just 24 hours to the end of the deadline given by the Confederation of Africa Football.

Amodu said, ”I planned to take 32 players to Durban for training and then pick the final 23 later but I was suddenly asked to bring the final list even before training. I had to rely on the players I know and that was how we dropped the likes of Dele Adeleye and Ebenezer Ajilore. It was sad and painful but the job has to be done at that time. I sat with my crew for hours to draw the list and also defended it before the technical committee.

”People failed to realise that I inherited this team from the lowest ebb and had to do so much work to bring back the confidence. We were getting the results and there were complains again about many things.

”After winning the ticket to the World Cup people are still complaining but those things are not important because I am only answerable to the NFF and I have done all I was asked to do according to the content of my contract with the NFF.

”I must admit we could have done better in Angola but the pressure affected everybody. Look at the Ghanaian team, they came to enjoy themselves at the competition because there was no pressure on the team and they did so well and played in the final. ”

On some ageing and injured players in the team, the coach explained that all the players got his nod on merit.

”I don‘t know why there are so many satanic insinuations. The failure of politicians in the country has crept to our football and they want to use football to win the hearts of the people. I have my own credibility and I want to win always so I have to select the best.

”Yakubu Aiyegbeni is doing so well in England scoring over 20 goals almost every season. He had injury problem and started playing and he was fit enough for the competition. Again there was so much noise on this player who is the most experienced striker in the team. He has good leadership qualities and he is a delight off every coach.

”Coaches know what they look out for and not just what people want to see. We all knew what people were saying about Garba Lawal but all the coaches were using him at that time.

”The injured players were certified fit for the competition. Yobo and Olofinjana were 75 per cent fit and I was okay with that because I believe they will get better as we go on. We expected a tough beginning but still believed we could play in the finals which we did.

”There was no understanding in the defence and the players failed to mark tight, especially against Egypt. I still believe we did our best to have won a medal. We deserve praises and not criticism.”

In the World Cup qualifiers, the Eagles did not lose any match in the series. The team won the first six games back-to-back in the first round stage. In the final round the team won three and drew three to top the group with 12 points.

Amodu hates to hear that he has been lucky with the Eagles as a coach especially after leading the team to win two World Cup tickets for Nigeria.

He said,” How can one be lucky for 15 to 20 years? I know this job and I enjoy doing it. Nigeria is now 15th in the world and 2nd in Africa but I took over when the team was not even anywhere near the top at the global level.

”I have made progress with the team and it is wrong to say I was demoted or sacked. The team B issue was my idea and I am still in charge of all the national football teams as head coach. That is what my contract says and the NFF‘s technical committee chairman, Taiwo Ogunjobi also said this recently.

”Altogether, I have no regrets. If I am to do it all over again, I would still have done the same thing. I am trying to rest after all the tension of Angola and let me also state that the foreign coach thing is no big deal because I signed a contract to work with a foreign coach anytime the NFF is ready.

”I do give Dan Amokachi instructions on what to tell the players on the pitch. He is still younger and he was doing that well for the team. I carry all my assistants along. It is true I suggested to work with Stephen Keshi but I said that when the pressure was so much and I know we have worked together before and I still maintain that I won‘t mind having him in our technical crew.”


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100220073435

Well said, Coach Amodu. The idiots at NFA are wrecking Nigerian football. It is difficult to perform better than this with so many distractions

Another big problem about this unecessary situation are the myopic Nigerian soccer Fans, 'sack amodu', 'sack amodu'!! If d best local coach eva in this country can take us to 2 world cups out of 4 and he is still a "mumu" according 2 daft 9ja soccer fans, then we really dont have a foreseable footballing future in this ungrateful country!!!!!