CAF 2018 Awards: True Picture of Free Fall of Nigeria Football

CAF 2018 AWARDS : TRUE PICTURE OF FREE FALL OF NIGERIA FOOTBALL

By Admin
Each year since 1999 when Nwankwo Kanu won the African Footballer of the Year award as the last Nigerian to do so, the CAF Awards has moved from comical to controversial….but the 2018 award has been nothing but convincing.

Painfully no Nigerian is among the African 11. This naturally should attract a debate. For me, there is no debate whatsoever….There is just no need for one It hurts to say so especially when we realize that we have shifted from wondering why no Nigerian or Super Eagles player has won the African best player award after Kanu did 20 years ago….to no Nigerian footballer being in the top or best or first 11 of Africa.

Most touching is the best female footballer award which used to be Super Falcons property now going out of Nigeria. It may not return any time soon if we go by the male or men's award last won by a Nigeria 20 years ago.

For me, this or the 2018 awards speaks volume of the state of Nigeria football. We have continued to pretend and pride ourselves as the best football playing nation in the continent yet our domestic league is nothing to write home about. Our national team manager/coach has continued to shun local players when inviting players for national assignments. He prefers the foreign legion on ground that our league is not good enough.

Yes, if it is good enough then, the players that play in the league will be good enough for the Super Eagles. It is simple logic.
This same domestic league ranks 12th among the best organized leagues in Africa. This is the league the organisers claim they are in partnership with La Liga organisers over. This is the same league that sponsors are running away from. Why won't they? A good product sells itself.
Talking about our foreign-based players. None to me deserves to be on CAF's Best 11. Looking at their performance at the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup, it is a bitter truth to say they fell short of expectation despite the preparation and financial rewards planned to boost or motivate them. Nigerians were hugely disappointed that the team crashed out of the tournament in the first round which was a strange performance for the country at the World Cup.

Back in their clubs, the top or senior players in the team play in China which is a low league by FIFA and CAF standard and ratings. Many suggest the players went to China for economic interests and values to their careers and games. For the multitude who are in Europe, many struggled to make any meaningful impact in their clubs which neither featured in the Champions League nor Europa League. They even found it difficult to shine in the domestic leagues of the countries they ply their football trade.
Ironically, players who made the headlines most in 2018 across the major leagues of the world are Africans yet none is a Nigeria. The duo of Mohammed Sallah and Sadio Mane of Liverpool lead the pack in this regard. When a player does so well yet his performance could not yield any fruits for his club, it is very difficult to pick such player for an award or recognition. This is the case of a few Nigerian players. It is like scoring 20 goals for a relegated club….If the goals could not drag the club out of relegation then, they cannot be good enough to lift the player for an award. This is exactly the case an of Wilfred Ndidi of Leicester City through his club was not relegated.

He did pretty well but for a lesser club. When will Nigerian players feature for top clubs as was the case in the past? Austin Okocha once played for Paris Saint Germain alongside Ronaldinho. Emmanuel Amunike once played for FC Barcelona. Kanu once played for Inter Milan. Sunday Oliseh once played Juventus and Victor Ikpeba once played for Borussia Dortmund among others.

The performance of such player would be better appreciated if he was featuring for the likes of FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint Germain, Manchester United or Liverpool. Sadly none of Super Eagles players is playing for any of these clubs. Victor Moses who used to be the biggest Nigerian player by virtue of the club he plays for, Chelsea, is now warming the bench at Stamford Bridge. Alex Iwobi who plays for Arsenal has not stamped his feet and authority at the Emirates. He is still be treated like an upcoming star when his mates are flying high in other clubs. Iwobi no doubt is a good player but he has not asserted his influence as a super regular or untouchable in the Gunners squad.
So where do we get the Nigerian footballer who should make CAF's 11 for 2018 awards? Truth is the standard of the Sport is on a free fall in Nigeria yet the administrators are deceiving themselves by acting as if all is well. You don't play football in the boardroom.

Meetings and discussions with sponsors should transform into good football on the pitch. Money enhances the sport if well utilized but money does not play football. It is a big indictment on the part of the NFF that the coach they employed has refused to invite home-based players into his squad. The man (Gernot Rohr) is not to blame. The standard of the league is bad. The fact that clubs representing the country in the continent crash out in the early stages shows how terrible the NPFL is….and of course the quality of players hired, contracted or employed by these clubs.
When the head is bad, no miracle makes the body to be good. Football administration in Nigeria is in the doldrums. The League is in the hands of businessmen who pretend to know it all. Most clubs managers are strangers to football but fortunately got the job as political appointments or on the basis of their closeness to state chief executives. In this situation football suffers…and it is difficult to get the best to represent Nigeria or make them win either personal or collective honors. You can't give what you don't have.