I
was trying to explain the evolution of Nigerian football to my six year old boy
yesterday when he asked me frankly what Nigeria had won in football and why he
has never heard about any world class Nigerian footballer. I didn´t really know
where to start, I tried to start from the very last big thing that Nigeria won,
which was the nations cup in 2013, but I realized that even though we won that
competition, there was really no world class player I could mention in that
victorious squad whom I could be able to play his action video shots on youtube
that will wow my little boy.
I
looked around the whole of the European leagues and I just couldn´t find any
above average Nigerian player plying his trade in any first class European league,
one that makes the headlines at least twice a month in big football magazines
in Europe. It was then that I realized that our lack luster performance at the
national team level in recent times is due mainly to the fact that our national
team is packed full of mediocre players, some of who are not even regular
players in their teams in Europe.
But
how did we get to this sad situation where in the last five years we do not
have any world class player that can be rated among the top 50 best players in the
world in their positions. How can I now convince my six years old son that
there was a time when we had JayJay Okocha, George Finidi, Mutiu Adepoju, Kanu
Nwankwo, Victor Ikpeba, Taribo West, Sunday Oliseh, Rashidi Yekini, Samson
Siasia, Daniel Amokachi, Jonathan Akpoborie, Celestine Babayaro…. just to
mention a handful, who were always making headlines with their weekly
superlative performances in their various leagues all across Europe. Then you
could bet with anyone and win that there will hardly be a week when a Nigerian is
not mentioned in the course of football news across the globe.
Today,
our so called best are saddled only among the rest. There is no top Nigerian player
anywhere in the world that deserves any special attention and that is
responsible for our recent bad performances at the national team level.
After
fidgeting on youtube for several minutes and seeing nothing of notable football
value that will hold my boy spellbound, I finally settled for the video of two
of Nigeria´s best football talents in the last two decades, JayJay Okocha and
Kanu Nwankwo, two of our most creative players, who in their time could decide
a match with one very extraordinary play, and since yesterday my boy who always
called himself Diego Costa while playing around with the ball, now tells me to
call him Okocha.
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