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44 — SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 23, 2019 By Jacob Ajom There is a big gap between Super Eagles Team A and the CHAN Eagles. This is best underlined by the results being posted by the two Eagles. One set of Eagles is so super and the other is so so low. While the Super Eagles Team A are made up of foreign based players, the CHAN Eagles are peopled by players who ply their trade in the domestic league. Of late, there has been a growing call for the inclusion of home-based players in the main national team which is managed by Coach Gernot Rohr. This has put a lot of pressure on coach Rohr whose continuous indifference to the fate of the local players in the main Eagles is beginning to irritate even his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation. Right now the coach is in contract talks with the NFF and insiders say the aspect of having home based players in the national team is rearing its head in the negotiations. We could not, however confirm the validity of such talks or the actual position of the football house on the matter. Be that as it may, Rohr is never afraid to discuss the issue, each time he is faced with questions on the matter. After the Super Eagles came from behind to beat the Squirrels of Benin Republic in Uyo, a reporter asked when Nigerians will start seeing their home stars shine for the Super Eagles. Rohr's answer was sharp and short. “The Super Eagles standard is too high for any homebased to match now,” he said. One may be tempted to sympathise with the German tactician as one is aware that the Nigeria Professional Football League which went on recess since May this year and have been battling challenges that have badly affected its standard. They just just resumed about two weeks ago. Most of the players have been match rusty. Nigerian teams in continental competitions have suffered one form of indignity or another. CHAN Eagles failed to move from the group stages of WAFU Cup of Nations in Senegal, They lost the CHAN ticket to Togo and the U-23 Eagles failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Fivetime world champions, the Golden Eaglets put up an embarrassing show in Brazil and were eliminated from the U-17 World Cup like beginners in the game. Nigeria football has actually suffered its worst decline in recent years. It shows clearly that without a solid league, there cannot be a good national team. With these antecedents, could anything good come out of the domestic league? Should Rohr be armtwisted to selecting from players that would go to the national team to start learning some basic elements of the game of football? Which area in the present Super Eagles squad can a home based star do better than any of the foreign based stars? Former assistant coach of the Super Eagles, Sylvanus Okpala is disagreeing with Rohr on the quality of home based players. He is insisting that the Nigeria Professional Football League still has some very good players that can hold their own anywhere, anytime, “if given proper training.” Going back memory lane, to when Nigeria won her last AFCON trophy in South Africa, Okpala said, “Stephen Keshi and I did it in 2013 when we took five home-based players to South Africa and won the tournament.” He explained, “we brought them in. I for one, encouraged Keshi and we gave them intensive training alongside their foreign based counterparts. What we achieved was beyond anybody's imagination. Again Eagles took them to the World Cup in Brazil and we got to the •Okpala Stephen Keshi and I did it in 2013 when we took five homebased players to South Africa and won the tournament. second round. We can still find some in Nigeria who can do well, if they are given the chance. All they require is training.” Okpala said his grouse with Rohr, who he observed, “was a very good coach,” is that he does not want to take responsibility. He always appears dodgy, and attempts distancing himself from poor results instead of him to stand by his players. “Look at the case of Akpeyi whom Rohr blamed for Algeria's 1-0 victory over the Super Eagles in the semi final of the 2019 AFCON. Today he is back as his number 1. Why did he bring him back if he was not good? “I want to say it here again, because I have said it before, the free kick scored by Ryadh Marhez at the Nations Cup semi final match was •Amapakabo Rohr: Super Eagles' standard too high for home-base players •Okpala disagrees, counsels him not due to Akpeyi's fault. It was bound to happen because, as a former free kick specialist, I can tell you that a set piece from that position has a 99.5% chance of conversion. The goalkeeper has only .5% chance of stopping it. The blame should rather go to the player who fouled the Algerian at that dangerous point. But I don't blame individual players when a team loses. It is a collective game. Football is not about an individual player. For Rohr to have dropped Akpeyi from the team after AFCON meant he actually felt Akpeyi was culpable, which was wrong.” Head coach of the Squirrels of Benin Republic, Michel Dussuyer was sympathetic with his Nigerian counterpart when he advised Nigerians to have confidence in their coach. Said he, “let the coach decide who plays for the country. The best should represent the country, not whether you are based at home or not. Nigerians must respect the judgement of the coach because he is here to achieve results.” Imama Amapakabo has failed our footba By John Egbokhan o other Nigerian football coach Nhas failed to achieve the simplest of tasks like Imama Amapakabo has done in recent history. \The 50 year old has punched far below his weight in the national assignments he has been saddled with, failing on all three fronts, the CHAN qualification, WAFU Nations Cup and 2019 U-23 AFCON, which also served as the qualifying series for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Failure by the men's football team to qualify for next summer's Games, from which they won bronze the last time out in Rio Olympics, the only medal that Team Nigeria got at the biggest multi-sports fiesta. For many football purists, it is inconceivable that Nigeria will not be playing in the Olympics, from which the Dream Team famously won Africa's first soccer gold at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Between 1996 and now, Nigeria failed to qualify for the Olympics twice, 2004 and 2012 and the upcoming 2020 edition in Tokyo, with the latest coming under Amapakabo's watch. In situating how Amapakabo has punched way below his weight and should not be allowed to stay a day more in the position of national U-23 team coach, one only needs to recall how the former Rangers gaffer failed last month to qualify the Super Eagles B Team for the 2020 African Nations Championship. No thanks to Amakapabo, the Local Eagles side were shock casualties in the CHAN qualifying series last month, despite a 2-0 home victory over Togo in the second leg of their regional tie. Sikiru Alimi scored twice in Lagos for the Super Eagles B team, but it was not enough as Togo qualified for the finals 4-3 on aggregate. All thanks to Amapakabo lack of tactical guile, this will be the first appearance that Togo will qualify for the tournament,, which is restricted to footballers who play in their country of birth. Nigeria, losing finalists in the 2018 final, were seeking a fourth consecutive appearance at the biennial 16-nation championship. They needed to find the back of the net at least three times, without shipping in any, after a shock 4-1 first leg loss in Lome but because of Amapakabo, who lacked the x-factor, they missed out on the ticket, thereby denying this set of players the opportunity to showcase themselves at the CHAN tournament next year, from where better offers from foreign clubs can be gotten by deserving ones. As if that was not enough, Amapakabo's team also suffered an embarrassing early exit at the regional
d ll •Aribo •Okoye Wafu Cup tournament in October, losing to Togo in Thies, Senegal. The final straw that broke Amapakabo's back unfolded last weekend in Egypt, where the team played a barren draw with South Africa to crash out of the 2019 U-23 AFCON, which serves as the qualifying series for next year's Olympics in Tokyo. Three missions, three failures and Amapakabo has found himself in the eye of the storm, with no serious minded person begging for him to be retained at the helm. Despite his efforts to defend himself, Amapakabo's job is untenable and his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) should lay him off and stop any further defence of someone who represents the face of failure. With another coach in charge, the story would have been different for the CHAN Eagles, WAFU Team and national U-23 side, who were all led ingloriously to the slaughter ground by Amapakabo's lack of match-reading and poor tactical depth. On hindsight, the NFF should have known better not to hire Amapakabo in the first place, given the way SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 23, 2019 — 45 Aribo, new Eagles sensation speaks on his debut .Says I'll never compare myself with Okocha By Jacob Ajom Joseph Oluwaseyi Temitope Ayodele-Aribo made his first competitive appearance for Nigeria when the Super Eagles took on the Squirrels of Benin Republic in a 2021 AFCON Qualifier in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on November 13. Although Aribo is young both in age and in his international career, a lot was expected of the Rangers of Scotland midfielder. In his two previous appearances for the Super Eagles, Aribo had been consistent in his performances, scoring a goal each in the friendly matches against Ukraine and Brazil. Born 21 July 1996, Aribo has shown glimpses of a great footballer that could be depended upon by his coaches, team mates and countrymen. Apart from the goals he has scored for the Super Eagles against very difficult opponents, Aribo is a midfield general whose combination with Ndidi has given the team a lot depth and an attacking edge. He compliments the strikers as the likes of Moses Simon, Samuel Chukwueze have found an exciting partner who comes at defenders headlong. In Uyo, Aribo was a surprise inclusion in the starting line up as he had just arrived the Akwa Ibom state capital barely 24 hours before the match. “I spoke with him in the morning of the match day and he said he could start,” Coach Rohr had said, in a post match briefing in Uyo. And Aribo did not disappoint. He was indeed, a marvel to watch. And the Uyo crowd appreciated the efforts of the newest Eagle who they a re bound to see many more times. Aribo obliged Sports Vanguard a brief interview at the Le Meridien Hotel, Uyo, just before they jetted out to Maseru, Lesotho. Excerpts It was your first game in Nigeria, did you feel any jitters? I wouldn't say jitters, but nerves. I felt nerves. Nerves, at times, are good because it was the first time in front of every one. I knew they may have seen me play previous games but this was different, playing in front of them live. You just want to impress and play well so that they could have good things to say about you. Before you came to Nigeria for the game what were you expecting and did you meet your expectations? Yes I knew it, I know how the fans in Nigeria love football. So I expected it and it wasn't a big shock to me. Except for those who are following European football, you just emerged from nowhere and suddenly you are playing for the Super Eagles. Who is Joe Aribo? I am just a quiet humble person who keeps to himself. I am a shy person who doen't like going outside. I had been at Charlton from 18 to 22 and now I play for Glasgow Rangers after signing for them this summer. After your games against Ukraine and Brazil, one thought you were going to be the playmaker for the Super Eagles for a long time to come. You have heard of others who played that role in the past like Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Etim Esin, Henry Nwosu among others. Are you in any way comparing yourself with any of these all-time greats? I will never compare myself with Okocha because everyone knows how good he was. I would just like to be the best I can and for people to say he is very good. And he earned the right to wear the jersey he is wearing. How do you see your future in the Super Eagles? I hope that we will play in many tournaments and progress as far as possible in these tournaments. We have a good team between us and that being the case, I would like to play for Nigeria for many years to come. Were you at any point torn between playing for Nigeria and any other country? No. Never, because I knew what I wanted to do from the onset. The backing from the fans and the culture made it easier for me to want to play for Nigeria. After having your first feel of African football against Benin, how would you rate it? I knew they would be a strong opposition and it's nothing I am not used to. It was not a shock to me. It is a good standard and they shocked us by scoring an early goal, but we just had to keep calm and came back into the game and did all we could to get the win. Did you ever feel fatigued from jetlag before the game? Not really. But it is hard ofcourse, when you play a game on Sunday and you got to travel a long distance a few days after. But it was not really a problem to me. You said you are going to have a long spell with the Super Eagles. When you finally decide to hang your boots, what would you want Nigerians to remember you for? I want to win laurels with Super Eagles — Maduka Okoye Youthful Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has not lost his Nigerianness even as he has spent all his life in Germany, his country of birth. The only thing he would have to learn all over again is how to cope with the hot tropical Nigerian weather. At 38 degrees Celsius the 20 yearl old Okoye said “it's like hell here. In Germany it is 8 degrees. You can see what Iam going through,” he said, as he tries to dry his face with a face towel. Depite the heat, Okoye loves every bit of his stay in Nigeria. He loves the people and music. During his initiation after his arrival at the Super Eagles camp, he entertained with a song titled Madu by Nigerian Rangers almost drifted into relegation under his tutelage the season after he guided the Flying Antelopes to claim the NPFL title. That he led Rangers to win the biggest title in Nigerian football after 32 years called for big celebrations but his reputation dimmed the year after when Rangers flirted with relegation and it took his dismissal by the board of the Flying Antelopes for Rangers ship to be steadied again. In all fairness to the Amaju Pinnickled NFF board, Amapakabo was given all the tools required to qualify the U-23 team for the Olympics but in retrospect, it seems the missing link was in his appointment. Maybe, the footballgoverning body felt that with Amapakabo being named among Coach Gernot Rohr's assistants that the feel-good factor would rub off positively on the 50 yearold Nigerian gaffer but that certainly did not happen as he messed up big time. And the painful aspect of this is that Amapakabo has not been man enough to eat the humble pie and accept that he the blame for the trio of failures the artiste, Kizz Daniel. “That was what I sang to entertain the players during my initiation,” he said. Looking back when he started playing football, Okoye said, “may be four or five years old. I started as a striker. One day our goalkeeper was having cold and couldn't keep. Our academy coach called on me to keep. From that day I have never left the posts again.” Maduka Okoye is having a swell time as a footballer. What else is there for a young professional playing in a lower league in Germany who is already having a rare opportunity of featuring in the Nigerian national team. “It's a dream come true for me to play for the national team of Nigeria. My target is to do well and win laurels with the Super Eagles. I want to make Nigerians proud and also make even those who did not believe in me happy.” Coach Gernot Rohr has scored high, in the aspect of scouting young talents of Nigerian origin, bringing them home to play for the country. The likes of Bryan Idowu, Jamiu Collins, Ola Aina, Semi Ajayi, Joe Aribo among others came in as part of the coach's approach to national team building. It is clear he admires players who passed through European developmental models. national team recorded under his guidance. When the home Eagles side crashed out of the CHAN 2020 qualification race, Amapakabo blamed the players for the loss, arguing that they were not able to implement his sophisticated tactics on the pitch. A similar script played out when the team exited the regional WAFU tournament in Senegal, with the former youth international attributing the blame on the rustiness of the players due to the late kick-off of the domestic league. And when the biggest fall happened at the weekend in Cairo, Egypt, the jammed up coach blamed it on ill-luck, noting that, ''we gave our all but were unlucky not to get to the semifinals of the tournament''. But for observers who have monitored the coach closely, the verdict is that he certainly does not have the temperament and know-how to handle any national team, making him the biggest flop of the Nigerian coaching scene. There is no need to give him any further chance to redeem his image as he is way behind what it takes to manage a national team, having given the worst possible advertisement for the local coaches by messing up the gains that the Pinnick-led NFF executive board has made in the last years, giving credence to the truism that he is surplus to requirement. And the NFF President would do himself a world of good to throw the baby and the bath water away quickly and stop defending a man who failed in all three tasks assigned to him. If Amapakabo has failed, then he should be shoved aside and replaced by a competent hands-on coach like Sylvanus Okpalla or Emmanuel Amuneke, two coaches who have proved beyond all reasonable doubts that they can pull the chestnut out of the fire at the shortest possible notice. Given the near hopeless situation in which Rohr found himself after the sudden retirement of Carl Ikeme due to illness the search for an immediate replacement began. In November 2017, Gernot Rohr talked about his plans to invite a young Nigerian goalkeeper with Fortuna Disseldoff 11, a second division team in Germany named Maduka Okoye to the Super Eagles. That was before the 2018 World Cup. The plan did not go through. In July 2019, Gernot Rohr, hinted that he is shifting his focus to Maduka as he looks to solve the goalkeeping crisis that had rocked his team since Carl Ikeme quit. In August Rohr invited Maduka for a friendly against Ukraine. The match was played on 10 September 2019 in Dnipro- Arena. He was an unused substitute. On 13 October 2019, Maduka Okoye made his international debut as a substitute in a friendly match against Brazil. He said that debute against Brazil was the highest and most memorable point of his football career so far “It was fantastic making such a huge start to international football. A pleasure to face world stars like Gabriel Jesus, Firminho, Courtinho among others. Indeed, it was a great moment for me.” On his part, Okoye said he had always been ready to play for Nigeria. “I have always been ready for Nigeria. My father was of big influence in my choice for where to commit my international future to. He told me 'everything is possible' and that is the spirit I come to the national team with,” Okoye told Sports Vanguard in Uyo. The 6 ft 6 goal tender said his areas of strength as a goalkeeper were his height, his presence between the sticks. “I like oneon-one duels,” he said, adding, “that brings out the best in me.” Okoye praised the Super Eagles defence line, which he admitted inspires him. “Super Eagles backline inspires me. They are great defenders in their own right.” He said the three golkeepers in the team complement eachother. “We are for eachother and work together for the good of the team.
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