3 Terrible Mistakes Most Nigerian Footballers Make in their Career

 When you reach my age and you find yourself still drinking garri for a living, you know you’ve made some terrible career moves along the way. But I find many Nigeria ex-footballers not even having garri to eat soon after they may have retired from active football. ‘So what went wrong with Philip?’ Since some of these players had once featured at the highest level and had made a resounding fame for themselves. You’d think they should be in mega bucks, since they earned millions of dollars in their reigning days.

These are just a fraction of millions of Nigerians who waste their lives trying to forge a football career but never made any head start. You may on your own blame the government for your woes; you may even blame your family background or some spell cast upon you by some unimaginable enemies. But I found out 3 common but life threatens mistakes most Nigerian footballers make in their career. I call it mistakes because some these players are ignorant of the implications.

First, Most Young Nigerian footballers usually hope that someday an Agent or Scout would come to discover them and possibly take them to a top flight club in Europe.

What these youngsters don’t understand is this – only less than 1% of over 10 million aspiring players in Nigeria get selected into the various National teams and only less than 5% of these players in the national teams eventually make it to top flight clubs in Europe. There are football players everywhere in Nigeria, so no Scout is actually going about town searching for whom to discover at the back street.

It is a terrible mistake for any footballer to keep waiting for scouts to come and discover him or her. They may never come!  I have seen many of these players wait until they grow old and could no longer pursue their dream career. So things get bad for them as they begin to look for something else to do at old age; and may not settle for anything tangible after all.

Second, Most Nigerian footballers think to be in school is a waste of time; that a football career could give them all they wanted in Life – to be rich and famous.

 What these footballers don’t understand is this, football playing career is perhaps the shortest career ever. By 40 – 45 years or so, you may be forced to retire from the game you so love. Hey, there’s life after your career as a football player and you will require some education or training to handle the responsibilities.

Sooner or later you would realize that you can’t run away from education in today’s world. You can’t even be an effective coach, scout, Agent, sport marketing and management professional without the right education or training.

 Third, Most Nigerian footballers squander their earnings, believing they would earn more dollars in the future; with their eyes on big deals that may never come.

 Indeed, not every player can make it to clubs like Real Madrid, Chelsea, PSG or Manchester City where mega bucks are paid as sign on fees and salaries. It’s easier for a Camel to pass through the eyes of a needle than for a Nigerian player to get into such clubs. You will be competing with over 100 million other footballers around the world.

Many sports analysts say football isn’t a career, but a profession you can’t determine your tomorrow. As a player any day you survive a game, it’s important to manage your earnings very well because you don’t know if you would survive the next game. You could have a fatal injury; you could loose form and could no longer make the team. What am saying is your football career may be over in a twinkle of eyes.

 Former Super Eagles Winger, Ndubusi Okoseime said: Life hasn’t been easy; I’ve been struggling and hustling. It is a very bad situation for ex-internationals to be struggling. After giving so much for the nation and the nation does not regard you, it’s frustrating.  Again I reside in a state (Edo) that I am not from. It’s a big problem because nobody wants to hear from you. And when I go to my state, they say, “You did not grow up here.” So, where do we stand? Life has been very tough and difficult but I thank God that I am alive despite all the stress I am going through.

I recommend that you buy this eBook: “How to Achieve Your Football Dreams.” It will guide you on how to overcome these unnecessary mistakes. The eBook is packed with Solutions that you will surely require for a successful football career. Contact us while the offer last and purchase the eBook at a discount price.