The FIFA age-group tournaments provide an opportunity for discovering new talent for the future of football and once in a while, new stars are usually discovered and made. These players go on to become instrumental to their senior teams and often end up being very successful in their senior career for both club and country.

One of the more recent of these is none other than Lionel Messi. Arguably the best footballer in the world right now (I’m not willing to argue about the Argentina jinx for now), there’s no doubt that his antics in the 2005 U-20 World Cup brought him to limelight and jump-started his career. I won’t be so quick to forget that tournament because my team, Nigeria, was on the receiving end of his wrath. And though the Messi of then cannot even be imagined to be compared to the Messi of now, the same can’t be said of Mikel and Taiwo who were runner-ups to Messi as players of the tournament. In fairness to Taiwo though, he’s really beginning to make a name for himself. I’d say that has more to do with sheer diligence than intelligence.

I also remember when Nigeria hosted the U-20 World Cup in 1999. Some of the stars that were discovered then are still quite relevant in football now – the likes of the currently ‘defunct’ Ronaldinho, Xavi, and Casillas, went on to make great names for themselves and are still relevant in today’s football. By the way what really happened to Pablo? Remember him, the highest goal scorer of the tournament, who practically destroyed Japan in the 4-0 final.

The same cannot however be said of the likes of Pius Ikedia and Julius Aghahowa who also shined in that same tournament and were supposed to be in the same age group. Their careers didn’t really go further than the 2002 World Cup, meanwhile the likes of Xavi have gone on to win 3 Champions Leagues and a World Cup and he’s over 30. So what exactly is the problem with Nigeria’s youth system? Why is it that our successes in the youth teams are rarely transferred over to the senior team?

I’m sure by now; you know where I’m heading with this. The main problem with our youth system is that the youths aren’t actually involved. Year in year out, Nigeria continues to field excessively over-aged players who have all ready peaked or reach their prime. Players usually have to cut as much as 7 years off their real ages just to take part in these competitions. They do so well because they are at their peak but then unfortunately, that’s all they have left in them, they can’t improve on their performances as expected of them.

What happened to Martins? The hot ’20 year-old’ prospect who emerged from the Inter Milan youth system? He’s supposed to be like 26 or 27 now right? What happened to him?

Why is it that Messi keeps getting better and better every year while the likes of Mikel don’t seem to be improving at all? (Although I’d dare say that has more to do with Mikel just being a complete clown)
The answer is simple; why is it that my dad, with little or no previous computing experience, cannot learn a C++ programming language now and grasp it as quickly as my 10 year-old cousin, also with no previous computing experience would.

It is not a hidden fact that it is easier for a young player to acquire new skills (as long as he’s hard working) than it is for an older player, who can only use his right foot, to suddenly become left-footed. No matter how much of god they say Maradona is, there’s no way he would have ever learned to use his right foot in the 1990 World cup – he was already almost 30 then.

How is that players like Maldini were still able to be top defenders over the age of 40? I can’t remember a time ever when Maldini was ever awfully disgraced on the pitch. Meanwhile players like Taribo West could never dream of that.

Why is that players like Giggs and Scholes, way over 30 still managed to be instrumental for Man United last season? Meanwhile players like Okocha and Kanu have long retired.

Let’s come a little closer to home. How is it that players like Drogba and Eto’o, who are supposed to be older than Martins and Aiyegbeni, are still able to hold first team positions in their clubs? (Chelsea and Inter are not ‘beans’ teams for that matter. Who the hell knows Shaktar Donestk? I don’t even know if I got the spelling right).

The truth is that while the likes of Xavi, in Nigeria ’99,  were still so young, fresh and open to ideas, his ‘mates’ like Aghahowa had already finished learning all they could learn and could never play on a higher level than they had already attained.

I’m not necessarily saying that other countries are not guilty of fielding over-aged players. But I strongly believe that Nigerians are the greatest defaulters in this regard. The likes of Ivory Cost, Cameroon, South Africa and, more recently, Ghana are beginning to see the need to really develop their youth system and field players who are actually the age they claim to be.

The two major reasons why we always end up fielding over-aged players for age-group tournaments are these: Our mentality and our poor administration. I’m not here to discuss football administration with you though; I am no expert on that field. By I’d touch on our mentality

I’m not much of a footballer now; I prefer to show my prowess on an X-box pad. I’m way much better on that.
I also feel safer sitting in front of the TV, shouting at Rooney for showing too much of the ball to Joe Hart when he has a chance to bury a one-on-one chance during a Manchester Derby.
But I do remember a time when I was younger – about 8 or 9 –  when I was actually a very good Goal keeper (in my own right). Whenever me and friends played 5-a-side with some older boys, I was always the first choice to man the ‘monkey’ post. How my aptitude for Goal Keeping and my interest in playing football died is another story for another day.
Now I’m imagining a scenario where maybe I got better and better at it and then I finally decided I wanted a career in football. I wonder how my parents would have taken that. After all, Maradona was 10 when he joined Los Cebollitas. Messi was only 13 when Barca acquired him and he moved to Spain with his family. Real Madrid just recently acquired a 7 year-old – their very own “Lionel 2.0” (I’m not so sure what FIFA has to say of that though).
I mean, in fairness to my parents, they are quite open-minded. Maybe I wouldn’t have been so scared to tell them of my dream, but I’m sure there’s a limit to their openness.

The same can’t however be said of most Nigerian parents. Some of our parents then must never even catch you playing ball, let alone hear you talk about considering a career in football. You advised to spend more of your playtime studying because you either going to become a Doctor, an Engineer or a Lawyer. We seem to cherish profession more than career.

We all know Okocha’s story, how he used to get into trouble playing ball with the oranges he was supposed to be selling for his mum. He had to hone his skills on the market ground, whenever he could squeeze in some practice time. By the time Okocha finally got his first major break into a local club, he was probably already mature. And that was probably because there was no other thing he could do and his mother had no choice but to let him go on with football, lest he become a nuisance to the society. Well thank God for his persistence or we would never have known him. I’m very ready to argue that if Okocha had made his break at the right age, he would have gone on to be one of the best in the world.

Messi was already exposed to world-class infrastructure and training right from the age of 13. He’s family had already accepted that he was going to be a footballer. So he didn’t have to waste so much of his brain cells on trying to understand subjects like physics or learning how to calculate how much HCl he had to put in a test-tube. A great amount of his brain energy was focused on football. The things Messi probably knew about football by the time he turned 17, the likes of Taiwo didn’t learn until he made his way into Marseille. So you can’t really blame him, he just wasn’t exposed enough.

So because our focus is more on raising professionals rather than career people, Nigerians are not allowed to dream of becoming career people right from their young age. We only end up as Interior decorators, Chefs, Musicians etc, after many of our young years wasted on trivial pursuits. Do you know how old Tiger Woods was when he decided he was going to be a Pro Golfer? He was three years old!

If you want to be extremely wowed, check out this 7 year-old boy on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McuVjjn2GPc His name is Madin Mohammed. He’s not be mistaken for the same boy Madrid bought though

Our football system is also affected. No one concentrates on building a good youth structure. There are no football pitches to train, youth academies are lacking and the existing ones are under-funded. Consequently, the local league is affected as fresh young talent is not pumped in. Most of the players in the league are over-aged and almost at their prime. They only got in because they are hoping to make it into the National Team so that they can end up in clubs like Locomotive Moscow and Shaktar or some unknown team in Iraq. Anywhere is fine, as long as it is outside Nigeria and they are making ‘hard’ cash.

So it’s all about the Benjamins. They’ve suffered enough, their dreams as young children have been killed, and they know they don’t stand a chance against the younger ones all over the world. So they’d rather just make the best of the little time they have, make some money and upgrade their life. So they end up reducing their ages, rather drastically, shine for a few years, make their money and bow out with no shame. I don’t blame them – I blame the system.

Another perspective to our poor mentality is that Nigerians are very impatient by nature. We believe in fire brigade approach and don’t see the importance of building from the scratch. We want to see the results now. We don’t want it to take us 15 years to see the result. As long as we’re winning now, everything is fine.
The major reason we are so successful in the U-17 level is that we always field bullies. As long as we’re winning today, who cares about tomorrow?  I love it when we win but when it comes to U-17 tournaments, my celebrations are not always to the full because I know that, even though we’re playing very well, we are actually cheating. We are not looking at the bigger picture. We don’t see how the U-17 team is supposed to provide material for the senior team.

Until we begin to accept football as major force in the world and in Nigeria.

Until parents start to allow their children dream and pursue careers in their God-given talent.

Until we begin to take our youth football serious and patiently and painstakingly start to revamp our youth structure.

Until the people in charge start to think in the long run and realize that the money they would make now would be nothing, compared to what they could make, if only they were willing to wait 15 years to see their efforts yield fruit.

Until we can tell ourselves the truth, refuse to celebrate undeserved and unrewarding victory, and accept that we really have a problem; I don’t think Nigeria can ever win the World Cup.

MuyiGL:

Until we can tell ourselves the truth, refuse to celebrate undeserved and unrewarding victory, and accept that we really have a problem; I don’t think Nigeria can ever win the World Cup.

that long epistle to prove a point?

what do you expect nigerian players to do? if they don't lie about their ages, how would they get contracts from the big clubs?
you want wenger to pay for an untrainable 29 yr-old striker @ enyimba? don't be ridiculous. it doesn't work that way.

first off, our league is horrendous and the age-grade competitions provide the opportunity for the players to showcase their talents. it is in these international tournaments that scouts of the big clubs poach these young players. sign them on contracts and their rough edges are straightened!

Pardon the long epistle. But that's the point I'm trying to make, you say the league is crappy. Once we can tackle it form the grassroots, make the league good, more players will get exposed at earlier ages. Why do you think Germany is doing so well now?

MuyiGL:

Pardon the long epistle. But that's the point I'm trying to make, you say the league is crappy. Once we can tackle it form the grassroots, make the league good, more players will get exposed at earlier ages. Why do you think Germany is doing so well now?

when have germany not done well?
you want to compare germany to nigeria in the amount of money their fa spend on football?
surely, you can't be serious!

It's either you didn't see the 2010 World Cup or you don't follow the German league to see how well it's doing now. Or maybe you've not been following the Euro qualifiers or you're unaware of Germany's current ranking. Either way, you don't know what you're talking about

MuyiGL:

It's either you didn't see the 2010 World Cup or you don't follow the German league to see how well it's doing now. Or maybe you've not been following the Euro qualifiers or you're unaware of Germany's current ranking. Either way, you don't know what you're talking about

you are the one talking rubbish.
germany have won 3 world cups. . . . plenty of euros and you are disgracing yourself germany is now doing well.
when have germany failed to make an impression in any tournament? you then compare them to nigeria who have never won a world cup and who's only won nations cup twice!

may the gods shrivel your c[i]o[/i]ck!

coogar:

you are the one talking rubbish.
germany have won 3 world cups. . . . plenty of euros and you are disgracing yourself germany is now doing well.
when have germany failed to make an impression in any tournament? you then compare them to nigeria who have never won a world cup and who's only won nations cup twice!

may the gods shrivel your c[i]o[/i]ck!

wow! so much bile,wel for your info,there was a time german football was going through a sort of recession,when they did not have the players to take ver from lothar matheus and co,their football suffered a great deal and then they decided to work inwards which as a result you have the klose and podolski,marco reus,ballack,thomas kuranyi and co which formed the 1st level of german resuurection and then led to this present crop of german players with their 1st outing at the last WC and now they have added the likes of mario goetze,thomas reus and they might not win the next WC but i bet the germans will win 4 of the next 10 WCs

milehigh06:

wow! so much bile,wel for your info,there was a time german football was going through a sort of recession,when they did not have the players to take ver from lothar matheus and co,their football suffered a great deal and then they decided to work inwards which as a result you have the klose and podolski,marco reus,ballack,thomas kuranyi and co which formed the 1st level of german resuurection and then led to this present crop of german players with their 1st outing at the last WC and now they have added the likes of mario goetze,thomas reus and they might not win the next WC but i bet the germans will win 4 of the next 10 WCs

german football going through which recession - are you people living under a cave?

the germans have always been a football giant.
they were in the world cup final in 82 and 86. . . . they won it in 1990.
they won euro 96. . . , bayern munich was in the champs league final in 99, they won the euro champs league in 2001.
they got to another world cup final in 2002. unlucky to lose against italy in 2006 semis. . . .
got to the final of euro 2008 and they finished 3rd in south africa 2010.

and you are saying their football went through recession?