It is possible! Super Eagles,
Nigeria's men national team can win 2022 Fifa World Cup. I can beat my chest to
say this, because If Nigeria could win Gold in the men's soccer event at the
Olympics, then it can stares up faith in me to say that Super Eagles can win
the world cup too.
You may say it's a different ball
game. NO! There isn't much difference. It only takes NFF leaders to believe it
is possible and go ahead to set a strategic agenda towards achieving it. And
that's what I want to discuss here, If Nigeria want to win 2022 world cup, what
they should start doing and putting in place right now.
First and foremost, NFF must get rid
of excuses and of setting uninspiring targets. Why should we target the quarter
finals or semi finals of the mundial, when we can actually go all out for the trophy?
That kind of defeatist target makes the players feel in their subconscious mind
that Nigeria is just at world cup to make up the numbers. The excuse that: we
have young and inexperienced players are no longer valid, because we have
another four years to set our priorities right.
The good thing is there seems to be
some kind of continuity. Amaju Pinnick is still NFF President and has all his
technical committee intact. Gernot Rohr and Super Eagles coaching crew are also
intact...so it is easier to set a four years agenda towards winning 2022 fifa
World cup.
1 Take Care of Fifa Politics: Believe
it or not there are fifa politics that influences some salient decisions that
could make a great impact in moving a team forward or dropping out of the
competition.
I think Pinnick has made some
significant progress in getting well placed in the scheme of things, but we
need more of our men in fifa...match commissioners, Referee boards and other
areas where key decisions are taken during the mundial. This is what I think
Pinnick should start lobbying now. More of his competent men in key areas that
can affect the outcome of the world cup competition.
2. Placing Our Players in Top Flight
Clubs: It may be difficult to win the world cup with players playing in turkey,
Greece, China or other lower competitive leagues. If you have observed closely,
national teams that eventually get to most finals of the world cup are teams
that have players from top flight clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus,
Bayen Munich, PSG, Man city, Liverpool... In planning to win the world cup,
Super Eagles players should be able to play and compete at that the highest level.
So NFF technical committee and Super
Eagles managers should deliberately liaise with top player's Agencies to start
placing Nigeria players in top flight clubs. Let’s ensure that more of our
players will be playing Uefa Champions league in the world cup year 2022.
3. Organize Real 'Grade A'
International Friendly Matches: Playing grade A international friendlies will
go a long way to boost the confidence of the players. Let NFF and Eurodata
target national teams in the top 10 of Fifa Rankings.
In the next three years, Super Eagles
should be able to play France, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Spain, and Italy...
Let Nigeria team start rubbing shoulders with some of the world cup favorites
and potential winners.
4. Mobilizing Private Investors and
Improving the Local League: The local league can be made a good back up for the
national team. The league should be able to produce players that can compete at
the highest level.
The local league is dearly in need of
private funds and business managers to improve the league in the next three
years. With more money pumped into the local league, it will then be able to
attract better quality talents and improve its competitive standard. That'll
surely rob off on the national teams directly or indirectly.
