By Daily Sports on October 5, 2015

Former General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Dr. Tijani Yusuf, after taking a critical look at the performances of the Super Eagles against Tanzania in 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match; the U-23 at the All Africa Games  (AAG) men’s football semi-final match against Burkina Faso, and the Super Falcons ouster by Cameroon in the women’s football also at the AAG, has warned handlers of the sides to brace up decisively and equally face their tasks squarely in order to stem the slide about to befall the country in her future outings.

He frowned at a situation whereby national team coaches now do more of their job in the media, forgetting that the position is basically practical rather than theoretical. “They should do more on their players, tactics and techniques of the game, instead of the contrary being the case.”

 He described the dismal posting of the Eagles against their Taifa Stars counterparts as more than meets the eye, as he dismissed Samson Siasia-tutored team as pack of cards, a team without character, determination and focus.

He warned: “It is not enough to take responsibilities of the obvious failure of a team that started well against arch rivals Ghana, only to go down woefully against a Burkina Faso team that on a good day, the Nigerian side would have trashed silly. It’s really a shame this is the way we are presently. It also clearly showed that something grievously fundamental is wrong. It must be pin-pointed and dealt with headlong. Head or tail, it remains a sad commentary on our pedigree in the game in Africa.  I am yet to identify why instead of moving up in the game, we are steadily climbing down the ladder. We have been told that the leadership of the NFF is in tune with the teams. What happened to the teams are early pointers to what awaits the country if we postpone prompt overhauling of loose ends.  It is an alarm bell tolling. The more we take it serious and avert possible losing out at the crucial moment, the better for the nation.”

Yusuf insisted that with what is on ground presently, the Super Eagles, the Super Falcons and the U-23 teams cannot be said to have a squad that can stand the test of time in any future football encounter against any side, if drastic measures are not quick put in place before the dates of the matches approach. He further described as being unfortunate the fact that our coaches now hide under the pretext of rebuilding teams to sustain their jobs. What happened in the matches under focus leaves a sour taste in the mouth. The earlier the situation is frontally dealt with the better for the country.

“Without much ado, Siasia’s U-23 and Danjuma’s Super Falcons have no reason whatsoever to lose their semi-finals’ AAG games against mere Burkina Faso and Cameroon respectively. Yes, teams have improved in their tactics and techniques in football of late, but put side by side, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, the pendulum would easily swing to the side of the former Olympic champions. Though, the game between Falcons and Lioness of Cameroon have been tough and have gone either way, with our dominance in women’s football in the continent, the Nigerians would have scaled through.  It, therefore, clearly showed that the win against Ghana and the 1-1 draw against Senegal respectively were flukes, so goes with Falcons. The NFF and the handlers of the teams must sit down and chart the way forward, otherwise Gabon 2017 AFCON and Rio 2016 Olympics’ tickets will slip. We will be told same old stories as usual,” he posited.

Source Daily Sports

Posted October 5, 2015

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