Nigerians will accept only the title In Ghana 2008

January 15th, 2008 | by: Emmanuel | View Comments

The entire population of Nigerian football enthusiasts have lived in the agony of watching Cameroon take away title after title from the super Eagles. But for the heroics of the U-17 team last year, the country would have been counting twelve successive years without a title in any football competition.
The last time Nigeria won the nations cup was exactly fourteen years ago and really a worry for a tournament that comes up every other year.
After the sudden rise in Nigerian football in Tunisia ’94 and USA ’94 world cup, no one could have predicted the country will stay this long without adding to the title gallery in the Nigerian Football Association’s Glass House.
Despite the perceived deficiencies in this current team, there seems to be a greater belief across the country from Calabar to Kebbi, Oshogbo to Maiduguri that the team is going to get it right. This belief is not unconnected with the following reasons;
• After fourteen years the super Eagles has become frustrated and hungry for a trophy
• The current Eagles captain Kanu Nwankwo will be playing his 5th and probably his last championship. Most people believe if the team captain is as hungry as advertised, his attitude on and off the pitch should rob-off on others who may not fully appreciate the necessity of coming back home with the title.
• There is also a general feeling the team can only succeed under a foreign technical adviser/coach since ethnic bias and financial inducement as well as pressure from highly placed individuals maybe minimized. Those who say this have a good reason especially when we recall the two titles won in the past were under foreign Technical advisers. Nigerians believe in their indigenous coaches but generally agree that the reasons stated above usually clout their judgments

Emmanuel is The webmaster and Admin of Naija Football Fans Forum