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.
