U17 AFCON: How NFF Masterminded Golden Eaglets Failure

U17 AFCON: How NFF Masterminded Golden Eaglets Failure

By Niyi Busari

The Nigeria U17 national team are the most successful age grade side in Nigeria and Africa, having won the World Cup five times.

BSN Sports reports that, Burkina Faso on Thursday night bundled out the Golden Eaglets in the quarter-final of the 2023 U17 African Nations Cup. The 1-2 defeat to Nigeria denied the WAFU B champions the world cup ticket and the U17 AFCON semifinal slot.

Ahead of the competition, the Nigeria Football Federation failed to provide the team with programmes that will see them succeed at the CAF age-grade competition. The federation's failure to pay the coaching crew in the last one year, failure to organise quality warm-up games for the team, draw up a long term camping plans among others are the plots leading to the failure of one of most successful team in the world.

The Golden Eaglets during Sani Lulu and Aminu Maigairi reigns as NFF Presidents following their well executed long term plans were formidable because of their long term, camping and transition plans for the age grade national team.

Aside NFF plots, the head coach, Nduka Ugbade should not be exonerated from the failure of the team for singlehandedly selecting all players that were invited to the camp.

However, the NFF laid the foundation for the failure, largely though, inherited from the eight-year rule of the former board led by Amaju Pinnick.

 BSN Sports can authoritatively revealed that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) despite claiming to have paid all the national teams coaches did not pay the Golden Eaglets' coaches a dime in the last one year.

How did they want the head coach and backroom staff to take care of their financial obligations when they were owed for more than one year by their employers?

BSN Sports also confirmed that the federation did not in any way impose any players on the head coach but never called the coaching crew for questioning on allegation of players paying their way into the team list. When the employers failed to call the coaching crew to order regarding the alleged bribery allegation, it gave them the go ahead to do whatever that can bring food on their table.

The NFF should also empower the Austin Eguavoen led-powerless technical department to have a say or control over invited players by the head coach of the team. The Austin Eguavoen led Technical Department is just a figure head. The Technical Department among other duties supposed to vet the list of all invited players submitted before him, called the head coach to defend why each player was invited to the camp, shared technical ideas on how the team will succeed and be involved and draw up a successful plan in the programmes ahead of all international competitions.

But that was not the case as only the head coach, Nduka Ugbade invited and selected all the 160 players in their first camping, handle all training sessions, determined players to be sent packing, selected players for friendly games without contribution from other assistants. He also singlehandedly selected players that finally made the final list to the CAF U17 African Nations Cup.

On their part, the NFF failed to get quality friendly matches for the team ahead of the U17 AFCON. Seemed as if the federation deliberately programmed the team to engage and beat only Football Academy clubs during their short camping in Abuja, so as to confuse Nigerians making them to believe that the team was ready for the CAF U17 African Nations Cup. But the luck that always pushed Nigerian teams at international competitions to success without proper planning failed her.

In search for solutions, the Gusau led NFF should see this set back as an opportunity to get it right going forward. Henceforth, all national team coaches should be paid their dues, the Technical Department should be allowed to perform its duties, national teams should resume camping early for proper preparation. Quality friendly matches should be involved in their programmes, training tours to expose players and to boost their confidence ahead of an important international competition should also be included.

Written By Niyi Busari, Publisher BSN Sports