Dear Osaze,

I remember the game against Bosnia very clearly. I was sitting at the edge of my seat all through and wondering if the bumbling Eagles were going to put in another lame performance after the rubbish they played against Iran in the first group stage game. Edin Dzeko scored a perfectly legitimate goal early on that was luckily, albeit incorrectly chalked off by the referee for offside. Millions of Nigerian fans had their hands on their heads and their hearts in their mouths from then on, praying that we would not be knocked out in the first round like in that awful 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Suddenly the Eagles launched an attack. You sprayed the ball to Emenike on the right flank. He outmuscled the Bosnian captain Emir Spahic and lunged into the box before laying a sweet pass back to you and you made no mistake in placing the ball between Asmir Begovic’s legs and into the back of the net.

I imagine you must have heard the roar of 170 million Nigerian fans back home on the continent as we celebrated the beautiful goal! Well, maybe roughly 169,960,000 Nigerian fans ‘cos those Boko Haram modafokas no follow for the mata. Relief swept over us and we started to believe in the team again. After the first game against Iran when Keshi said you didn’t play to instructions, you certainly proved a point to everyone, didn’t you?

I’m not really going to dwell on the games against Argentina and France. You turned in a good shift in both games, but the results didn’t come… It was evident however, that you were a class above most of your teammates with the exception of the outstanding Vincent Enyeama. For a 32-year old player, you certainly showed the ‘younger’ (football age o!) members of the Eagles how to fight for the Green-White-Green. Your non-stop running and willingness to track back and help with the defending was absolutely admirable. While the players we previously placed our hopes on for a good tournament wilted in the sweltering Brazil heat, you kept going and going, a trait which you have always shown since your debut in the 2002 African Nations Cup where you killed off a perpetually useless South African team with a brace in a 4-0 win. Against Iran we saw clearly how your introduction into the game gave the team a bit of spark, although at that point it appeared most of the Eagles were still dazed by the sheer number of fine gyels and their curvaceous bodies in Brazil and they just wanted the game to end quick so they could go and spend their match bonuses on the babes. I was pretty irritated when Keshi said ‘you didn’t play to instructions’ when the only thing that came from the players that did play ‘to instructions’ was arguably the most boring group stage game of the World Cup!

I do have some advice for you though… You nearly missed out on the World Cup due to your squabbling with Stephen Keshi. You’ve also openly criticized the tactics of a number of your former coaches. I’m not sure that’s completely acceptable behavior, good sir. We don’t really know what went down between yourself, Keshi and maybe Pepsi and Peak milk, but suddenly you were back in the fold and the rest is history. You are a good footballer and can do without the unnecessary distractions that arise from controversial decisions like fighting with your coach or trying to instigate a transfer to another club. You filled millions of Nigerians with pride and gathered a lot of fans (myself included) from that magnificent season you had with West Brom where you bagged 15 goals and got EPL two player of the month awards, it would really be a shame to lose all that now as you enter the closing years of your playing career.

Another problem I have with you is all the times you passed the ball to Mikel during the tournament. You know Mikel is an otu and he was nearly always going to waste the ball but you kept passing to him for some reason. As an experienced player, if you saw that Mikel was your only passing option, it was better for you to clear the ball into the opponent’s half or played it into touch or something. See how he kept losing the ball like a secondary school player. How do you feel knowing that you could have prevented some of the rubbish that he kept playing? Please don’t be passing to Mikel again in future until he improves, you hear?

The new Premiership season is around the corner and we are expecting big things from you with Stoke City. Let’s see if you can’t bag at least 10 goals this season. Make your fans proud and keep the flag flying, fam!

Bless!

http://www.magamaga.com.ng/the-glorification-of-the-odemwingie/

The dude is great