Swiroset.com

The clamor for indigenous coaches to more especially manage Nigeria’s senior national team, known as the Super Eagles, has been around for as long as I can remember. The theme of national pride is always cited as one of the main reasons why exponents of this school of thought continued their agitation.

At one point, I was almost seduced into this school of thought, perhaps in sympathy with the local coaches who have paid their dues when it comes to soccer achievements.

I almost got carried away with our major achievements in the world cup cadet categories, especially in the under 17 category. Nigeria has won that trophy 3 times since the inaugural edition was held in China back in 1985, when an indigenous coach named Christian Chukwu, himself a former captain of the national senior team, led a group of unexposed youth to the Asian nation of China put their names in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first country in the world to win this championship which was later sponsored by Kodak.

Before leaving the shores of Nigeria, no one gave them the slightest chance of success. When they finally returned home with the trophy, much euphoria welcomed their achievement. And as stated above, this feat has been repeated two more times after the inaugural edition, ironically on the same continent of Asia. First it was China in 1985, then Japan in 1993 and the most recent in Korea in 2007.

On these three occasions, our indigenous trainers were at the forefront of matters, first it was President Christian Chukwu, then Fanny Ammun and recently the late Yomi Tella, who passed away within weeks of returning from a glorious outing in Korea.

In 1996, Nigeria accomplished another feat on the field of soccer in distant Atlanta, Georgia in the United States of America. There, an underrated Nigerian team led by Dutchman Bonfrere-Jo took the world by storm by winning an Olympic gold medal that has eluded almighty Brazil ever since they registered their name as the greatest soccer nation in the world, having earned all that. you have to win in football at all levels of the game except the Olympics (I’m starting to think they’re cursed). Ironically, Nigeria eliminated them in the semi-finals in an epic match that the bookmakers had already given the Brazilians. The fact that led to the elimination of Brazil in the football event of the Atlanta Olympic Games is a topic for another day.

However, the problem here is that Nigeria won that soccer gold under the tutelage of a foreign coach, and it is on record that the two times Nigeria won the African Cup of Nations, the first in 1980 was under a Brazilian known as Otto Gloria. , the second. The second time was in 1994 in Tunisia under the flamboyant and vocal Dutchman known as Clement Westerhof, it was this same man who qualified Nigeria for their first senior soccer world cup popularly known as USA 94. It was a double feat for the Dutchman who He had won the African Cup of Nations earlier this year in style, sending a signal to the world about Nigeria’s readiness to take its rightful place on the field of world football.

Why have foreign coaches been more successful than indigenous ones when it comes to the absolute category?

I would like to offer the reasons in two ways, first the administrative lapses in the Nigerian Football Association. Most of the people involved in the day-to-day game of soccer in Nigeria know next to nothing about the game and its challenges. The Nigerian Football Association is thus politicized and is used mainly as an instrument of political gratification for electoral support. Foreign coaches are successful because they are hired under a well-signed and sealed contract, offered delicious contracts that help motivate them to do their best.

When it comes to the local coaches, it’s a different ball game. They are barely given a specific contract and when that happens, a lot of interference from the powers that be in the sports ministry and the governing house of soccer makes it difficult for indigenous coaches to make decisions. The issue of job security is another determining factor. Coaches are hired and fired at will, most of them are owed salaries for a couple of months, and they should never discuss these issues, otherwise it would be considered sabotage and an act of insubordination, as these coaches they are treated as ministry workers.

The issue of respect on the part of the players is another cauldron of fish when it comes to training the senior team. Now that I think about it, some of these professional players earn up to £ 80,000 a week at their various European clubs, which translated into our local currency equates to millions of naira that could pay the indigenous coaches’ two-year salary. Now, psychologically, the student here lives more comfortable than the teacher, he has achieved more than the so-called teacher and that is why it is difficult for him to submit to the authority of a man who has never played professional football in his entire life.

Foreign coaches are more respected by both players and administrators and this tends to give them an advantage over their local colleagues.

Until such time as local coaches are treated with much more respect than foreign coaches in terms of pay and hands-free to operate without undue interference, the possibility of an indigenous coach succeeding with the senior soccer team seems like a possibility. mirage for now and the near future.