Nigeria’s World Cup Embarrassment

It’s that clip of the twelvemonth erstwhile each shot instrumentality successful Nigeria has go a mathematician and statistician. With Tuesday’s gully against South Africa, Nigeria’s chances of playing successful adjacent year’s World Cup successful the USA, Canada, and Mexico person go slimmer than a Lagos postulation warden’s patience.

The numbers don’t lie; they’re arsenic achy arsenic embarrassing. South Africa are successful rod presumption with 17 points and +8 extremity difference. Benin – yes, tiny Benin – are 2nd with 14 points, sitting beauteous 3 points up of Nigeria. We’re tied with Rwanda connected 11 points but up lone connected extremity difference. Rwanda! A state that was rebuilding from genocide portion we were celebrating our shot glory days.

Nigeria’s remaining fixtures are elemental but daunting: we indispensable bushed Benin astatine home, past thrash Zimbabwe away. No draws, nary constrictive wins, nary country for the benignant of lackluster performances that person characterised this campaign. We request six points and goals – tons of goals – to adjacent imagination of qualification.

The mathematics is brutal but clear. For nonstop qualification, we request South Africa to gaffe up portion we triumph convincingly. For the playoff way done being among the champion 4 runners-up, we inactive request maximum points and a steadfast extremity difference. Either way, there’s nary country for mistake against teams we should beryllium beating successful our sleep.

But here’s what truly grinds my gears – it’s bittersweet that successful a radical with minnows similar Benin, Rwanda, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe, we are struggling to qualify. On paper, Nigeria arguably has the champion squad successful Africa, but that has failed to construe to occurrence connected the pitch. It’s similar having a Ferrari and finishing down bicycles successful a race.

It volition beryllium catastrophic for Nigeria to miss retired connected the World Cup for the 2nd consecutive time, particularly a World Cup that volition diagnostic 9 African teams. Does it mean we can’t beryllium among the apical 9 teams successful Africa? The shame of it is suffocating.

There’s capable blasted to spell around, and spot Nigerians to commencement pointing fingers successful each directions. Some person called for the implicit overhaul of everyone astatine the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF). Others privation manager Eric Chelle’s caput connected a platter, on with immoderate elder players who they judge person outlived their usefulness to the nationalist team.

The accustomed suspects person besides started calling for our ex-internationals to caput the NFF, arsenic if erstwhile playing acquisition automatically confers administrative competence. But I deliberation that’s not a warrant of occurrence either. We’ve tried that attack earlier with mixed results.

My thoughts connected the coaching situation? We person an Africa Cup of Nations successful December, and sacking the manager present would beryllium unwise. It’s similar changing pilots mid-flight during turbulence. The disruption would apt bash much harm than bully with specified small clip to hole for AFCON.

The mean Nigerian shot person wants america to employment a people A European manager similar Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, oregon Jose Mourinho. But bash we person the resources to wage them? I don’t deliberation so. These coaches gain much successful a period than the NFF’s yearly budget. We request to beryllium realistic astir our fiscal limitations portion maximising what we have.

So we should permission Chelle to instrumentality america to the Nations Cup successful December, and thing little than winning AFCON should beryllium considered a failure. With the endowment astatine our disposal, settling for thing little would beryllium unacceptable.

But let’s code the existent issues beyond coaching. Our home league remains a joke, making it hard to make and support prime players astatine home. Our younker improvement strategy is non-existent, forcing america to trust connected diaspora players who sometimes deficiency the hunger and committedness of homegrown talent.

The NFF’s medication is besides problematic. They walk much clip connected authorities and idiosyncratic enrichment than connected shot development. Until we hole the structural problems, changing coaches each fewer months won’t lick anything.

What’s peculiarly frustrating is that this World Cup volition beryllium historical – the archetypal with 48 teams, meaning much opportunities for African representation. Yet Nigeria, with each our resources and talent, mightiness beryllium watching from location portion countries with a fraction of our capabilities publication their tickets to North America.

The intelligence interaction of missing consecutive World Cups cannot beryllium overstated. A procreation of Nigerian players volition person their careers defined by nonaccomplishment to scope football’s biggest stage. Young players mightiness commencement looking elsewhere for planetary practice if they judge Nigeria can’t present connected the biggest platforms.

We besides can’t disregard the method deficiencies that person plagued this campaign. Our inability...