Nigeria deserve semi-final spot but lack the class of old in an era when Africa’s minnows are stronger and the best weaker
www.theguardian.com
This really misses the point of what has been going on in Nigerian football for years. While there are fewer players reaching the level where they are talked about with global stars, the median (overall) level of footballing technical and tactical ability among players is
much, much higher.
Those top Super Eagles teams of yesteryear had stars like Kanu and Okocha at the peak, but also had more than a few achilles heels sprinked around the field - players who were highly indisciplined or just not good enough for top international football. But they were mostly what Nigeria could field. Today, those kinds of players dont have a chance at all to spoil the team, because the country can pick from many really solid players.
Ultimately football is a team game. Messis and Ronaldos and Salahs are few and far between. So progress for Nigeria is indeed all about getting 11 players on the field who really know what they job and can work together with no weak links breaking down. Even if there are no Kanus or Okochas there are still enough inspired and skilled players to take the team to greater heights. The rest will continue to come.
Note as well that the improvement of the team level and the FA organisation, means that Nigeria will only become more attractive to diaspora players, second generation Nigerians, of which there are many. The likes of
David Alaba did not elect to play for Nigeria, but today if Alaba was 18 and coming up, he'd consider it more seriously. And that's why an
Iwobi made that move. With this progress the Super Eagles are now seriously an option for the next
Dele Alli or
Ross Barkley, because there is a platform there that they can actually take to the next leve,
If you for example look carefully at the current England youth ranks aged 17-21, they are stuffed full of good players eligible to play for Nigeria. It's not conceivable that all of them will elect for England AND stick to it. So there's going to be a golden generation here for the Super Eagles, even though the exact names are not totally clear at the moment.
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