Rising Profile Of Nigerian Football

In the recent couple of weeks, the lot of Nigerian football has been on the rise on world stage following cheering news on and off the pitch.

On the 14th of this month, Nigeria’s women football team, Super Falcons, broke every available record in clinching their sixth African Women Championship title in seven attempts after beating their Equatorial Guinean opponents 4-2 in the final match of the seventh edition in South Africa.

To win the championship, the Falcons, kept a 100 per cent performance, winning all matches, scoring a whooping 19 goals and conceding only four. Apart from the ultimate prize, Falcons’ players, Perpetual Nkwocha and Stella Mbachu, won the individual awards of Highest Goal Scorer (11 goals) and Most Valuable Player (MVP), respectively while the team carted home the Fair Play award.

This came just few months after the nation’s U-20 women team, Falconets stunned the world in the FIFA Women World Cup in Germany in August.

The Falconets, became the first African women team to finish second in any tournament at that level, and thus, Africa’s best.

Off the pitch, ex-internationals, Mike Emenalo and Finidi George were elevated to unprecedented high positions of responsibility at Chelsea Football Club, England, and Real Betis in Spain.

While Emenalo was named assistant coach of the defending English Premiership Champions, Chelsea team, George was appointed director of international scouting in Real Betis.

After the abysmal performance of the senior national team, the Super Eagles, at the last 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the air of disappointment that followed, the recent success stories really provide a welcome relief for soccer loving Nigerians.

As has been demonstrated in the past, Nigeria has the potential to rule the world in the game of soccer and the manpower to thrust forward some of the best technical hands in the game.

That Emenalo and George could be handed such huge responsibilities by big European clubs shows that hardwork, commitment and loyalty have their rewards, even in a foreign land.

Theirs is a case study, and challenge to other Nigerian players and coaches. They should not limit their scope within the shores of the country but have the entire world as their territory.

However, Emenalo and George must see their new positions as an opportunity to prove their mettle and live up to expectations of their compatriots.

The managers of the game in Nigeria, especially the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), must feel challenged by the recent developments, and take steps that would sustain the achievements of the nation’s teams by creating the enabling environment for players and ex-players to fully explore their potentials.

Now also is the time for Super Falcons to rise up and raise the standards to the world stage, especially the forthcoming FIFA Women World Cup in Germany, next year.

They must show that their prowess goes beyond the African continent, and drop the toga of under-achievers at the world stage, as it seems they are in better position to lift the game higher as did their male counterparts in the past.

Also, the male national teams must take up the challenge raised by the recent successes of their female counterparts in order to re-establish themselves in Africa and the world.

While Nigerians celebrate the recent surge in profile of our football and emergence of our citizens in world club football roles, the country ought not be carried away by the euphoria but must know that the real work towards sustaining the achievements starts now.