“Football is like life - it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.”-Vince Lombardi
Following Flying Eagles’ ouster from the 2011 FIFA Under-20 World Cup on Sunday after the 3-2 loss to Les Bleuets of France, my imagination just went wild and rhetorically asked: what is the difference between a lucky coach and an unlucky one?
Not that I’m gifted with clairvoyance, but I stated here on the eve of the team’s departure to Colombia that the only thing that could stand between the Flying Eagles and the trophy was nothing but luck! With such thorough and methodological preparation that saw the team playing so many matches, one would be forgiven to think so and I was least surprised by Coach John Obuh’s post-match comments after the loss to France: “We wanted to win, but it didn’t work out. My players gave their best, but their efforts didn’t pay off. The match could have gone either way, but we were unlucky. France was luckier and they capitalised on our mistakes.”
Just maybe things might have turned out differently if the Flying Eagles had kept their eyes on the ball when they got lucky after substitute Maduabuchi Ejike scored a last-gasp equaliser to send the match into extra-time.
Legendary English coach, Brian Clough, the man who led Nottingham Forest to win the European Cup twice and set an unbeaten run of 42 league matches between November 26, 1977 and December 9, 1978 (which was only surpassed by Arsenal that set a 49-match unbeaten record in 2004), actually stated in his biography that ‘anybody can win a cup with a bit of luck.’
But what is that small thing called luck other than hard work. Foremost motivational speaker, Brian Tracy once noted that ‘I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.’
Asked what was the secret of his success at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson in Moving Up enthused: “People keep asking me what has made me successful. It’s hard work. Yes, plain old hard work. The ability to work hard all your life is, firstly not easy, and secondly, an inspiration to those who work under or with you. No one should write off naturally talented people, but they also need the application of hard work to be successful, whereas hardworking people can survive without natural talent.”
Gary Player, the doyen of golf gave a clear correlation between hard work and luck as the panache for success with his definite quote: ‘The more I practice, the luckier I get.’
Player, according to Wikipedia, was credited with nine Major championships and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame for winning 165 tournaments on six continents over six decades!
This was what Ferguson said about Player: “Most golfers would be just glad to get out of the bunker but he is talking about holing from the sand. I think that closes all the debates about hard work and hope.”
Surely, there is no disputing the fact that hard work pays yet, there is no substitute to luck according to Larry King, who hosted the famous Larry King Live on CNN between 1985 and 2010: "Those who have succeeded at anything and don't mention luck are kidding themselves."
We can go on and on with the relationship between luck and hard work as the basis to succeed but how many people would be happy with a hardworking coach without a trophy in the cabinet?
While we salute the likes of Obuh and current Super Eagles coach, Samson Siasia for their good work ethics, we are stuck with the stark reality that they are yet to win big on the world stage!
Obuh nearly won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup when Nigeria hosted the event in 2009 only to be stopped at the final hurdle by Switzerland.
“I was disappointed that we lost to Switzerland. Having reached that close, it made it even more painful. The boys lost focus in the most important game of the tournament. A lot of them were looking to impress European clubs and did not play as a team as a result,” Obuh agonised.
Though he has proved that he was equipped with the Midas Touch by leading Sharks of Port Harcourt to win the 2010 WAFU Cup as well as leading the Flying Eagles to win the last African Youth Championship in South Africa as a prelude to the World Cup in Colombia, he would forever rue the possibility of what could have been against Les Bleuets last Sunday.
What if he had pulled off star striker, Musa Ahmed for Ejike earlier? What if he had gone to the tournament with a taller goalkeeper as some critics suggested? What if he had not met the gusty French in the semi-finals? What if he had gone to the tournament with players like Stanley Okoro and Mohammed Aliyu? Questions, questions and more questions.
The same is applicable to Siasia. Apart from winning the African Youth Championship in Benin in 2005, his best efforts so far on the world stage is coming second behind Argentina at the 2005 Under-20 FIFA World Cup in Holland as well as the 2008 Olympic Football Tournament in Beijing.
“We don’t know what is happening to the magic wand Coach Siasia promised Nigerians,” a passionate fan stated in a recent sms. “Nigeria has been sliding in the monthly FIFA Rankings ever since he came on board. Amodu is not a great coach, but he has always been lucky. It is up to Siasia to move Nigerian football to the Eldorado or else his coaching career will be over.”
Still wondering why every successful coach still has to ride his luck? Which one is your preference, a hard working coach without luck or vice versa?
Flying Eagles, thank you!
Except for those who believe under-aged competition is an end itself, the Flying Eagles deserve plaudits for reaching the quarter final stages of the 2011 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia.
Going into the tournament, I said here that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has done everything possible to prepare the Flying Eagles. Consequently, the onus was on Obuh and his wards to do themselves justice.
Surely, the Flying Eagles did not match the record of their 1989 and 2005 predecessors that nearly won the tournament, but lost in the Final Match to Portugal and Argentina respectively, they however, gave Nigerians something to cheer. They won their qualifying section with aplomb by thrashing Guatemala 5-1, Croatia 4-2 and Saudi Arabia 2-0 and were one of the only three teams (the others being Spain and Colombia) that won all their First Round Matches.
Ironically, the trio jointly crashed out at the quarterfinal stages of the competition as Brazil saw off Spain 7-6 on penalties after a goalless draw at the end of extra-time, while Mexico comprehensively beat Colombia 3-1 and Nigeria lost 2-3 to France in a dramatic fashion. Think the Flying Eagles met and lost to a better French team and were undone with the agility of star substitute, Alexandre Lacazette, who broke the Flying Eagles’ heart twice.
Despite the loss, there are still some positive vibes, with Obuh saying the future of Nigerian football is bright indeed: “This is a team we should build for the senior national team, but again, the players must sustain themselves. Some of them came through from the U-17 level while some dropped on the way because of lack of seriousness. The serious ones will make the senior team.”
Age-grade competitions are just a means to an end and not an end itself and we can only hope that Obuh’s prediction that some of the lads would make the top grade would see the light of the day.
Of course, many are still of the opinion that some of these players are already past their prime and have nothing to offer the game any longer, but such criticism is neither here nor there.
Expectedly, former Nigerian international, Adokie Amiesimaka was at his petulant best again: “My take on this is that we would be undoing ourselves. These players are too old and it would be absurd to draft in players in their thirties to play for the Super Eagles. The players are too old. They are in their 30’s and should be thinking of retirement, not playing for the senior team. Those players we think are U-20 may even be too old for the super Eagles.”
Good talk as I even lamented here just last week that Nigerian football would suffer on the long run should the generality of the society turn eyes away from age cheats, but the question is: where were the jurists when Obuh named his squad for this tournament? Think the wise thing to do was to blow the whistle on age cheats before the competition as the coach would have been left with no choice but to drop such players.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, novelist and dramatist stated that ‘the person of analytic or critical intellect finds something ridiculous in everything.’
Before I forget, kudos to Samm ‘Masterblaster’ Audu, the Flying Eagles’ media officer for his incisive despatches from Colombia and it goes without saying that the NFF was spot on with appointments of credible hands to serve with the national teams.
One down, one to go!
Some equate footballers with prostitutes: one moment they are there, the next, they are gone!
This could be true after all when on Tuesday, one of the most protracted transfer saga in recent times ended with Cesc Fabregas finally sealing his departure from Arsenal to Barcelona.
Fabregas dominated the space throughout the European summer’s transfer window and at some point, the British PM, David Cameron even pleaded that the lad should stay on at the Emirates. But the Spanish giants would not have any of that and they pursued their target to a logical conclusion by offering a £40m fee to have their man.
Obviously, the most disappointed man was Coach Arsene Wenger, who stated matter-of-factly, on the eve of Fabregas departure: “We have been clear that we didn't want Cesc to leave and that remains the case. However, we understand Cesc's desire to move to his hometown club and have now accepted an offer from Barcelona. We thank Cesc for his contributions at Arsenal and wish him future success.”
With that deal done and dusted, all eyes would be on Inter Milan’s Dutch maestro Wesley Sneijder.
He has been courted by Manchester United, but the transfer was stalled after negotiations broke down along the line over what the player was going to earn at Old Trafford.
During the week, Inter Milan’s President, Massimo Moratti said, Sneijder is ‘untouchable’ and that the player ‘was going nowhere’, but such grandstanding doesn’t last too long in this wheeling and dealing football business.
It might just be a matter of time before Sneijder would swap Inter Milan’s blue colours for Manchester United’s red colours. I can’t wait....
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