Have you ever watched Superman on TV? The story line
is usually that someone or some people get into trouble; maybe, about to burn
inside fire or drown in a big ocean or falling from a lofty height; suddenly
Superman shows up and with ease, he break through the barrier and save them.
Shaibu Amodu seems to have taken the role to play
the Rescue Man for the Nigeria national team – Super Eagles. He has been called
up to take over from the sacked head coach, Stephen Keshi, after the later lost
two crucial matches in the on-going African Nations Cup qualifiers. I can tell
you, Amodu is an expert in rescue missions.
In similar stuation in 2001, when Nonfrere Jo began
recording spates of poor results, and it was looking like Eagles wouldn’t
qualify, Amodu took over and qualified Nigeria for 2002 FIFA world cup. Amodu
had also qualified Nigeria for the 2010 FIFA world cup in South Africa. But in
both occasions, Festus Onigbinde and Lars Lagerback were installed in his place
before the 2002 and 2010 world cup respectively.
Amodu is tagged by some as the most unlucky coach,
with the way NFF treated him each time he qualified the country in a major
tournament. For instance, he was demoted to serve as the coach of Nigeria
B-team (Home Based Eagles), after he qualified Super Eagles for 2010 FIFA World
cup.
Indeed, Amodu hasn’t won any major tournament for
Nigeria. He had only led Super Eagles to AFCON Bronze medal in Mali 2002 and
Angola 2010. But he is a master when it comes to rescue mission or to qualify
Nigeria for a major tournament.
Super Eagles need to win their next two games and
garner the 6 points at stake, but NFF executive committee has lost faith in the
ability of Keshi to secure those maximum points, hence they call out to Amodu
once again to save Eagles. Nigeria should be in Morocco to defend the title and
only Amodu can make it happen.
Amodu was appointed as a caretaker coach and will
take charge of the team for the last two matches in the qualifying round for 2015
AFCON in Morocco. The decision was made on Wednesday night, October 15, by the
executive committee of the newly constituted NFF, after Super Eagles defeated
Sudan in a return leg match in Abuja.
One thing going for Amodu, which I think NFF
considered before his appointment, is his ability to manage big players. He had
been in charge of Keshi himself, Amokachie, Shorumu, the out-going coaching
crew. Just name the player in Nigeria. Though, Amodu critics said he does it a
little bit too much. He carry bags for his players for a few dollars. Don’t
mind me.
