Eaglets and Future Of Nigeria’s Football

The exploits of the Nigerian Under-17 na
tional team, the Golden Eaglets in far away
Dubai in the on-going Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) organised Junior World Cup Soccer Competition, has once again raised questions on why the same feat is not replicated at the levels of the senior teams – the Flying Eagles and the Super Eagles.
While the Flying Eagles (Under-20) has managed to win a Bronze Medal in the FIFA organised World Youth Championships in the Soviet Union in 1985 and a Silver Medal four years later in Saudi Arabia, the Super Eagles, since featuring at the World Cup in USA 94, have competed in the global soccer fiesta in 1998, 2002 and 2010 without much impact.
It is also on record that Nigeria’s Under-17 team, enjoys the distinction of winning the World Cup in that age-grade  competition three times, a feat it shares with Brazil. But today, the Golden Eaglets have surpassed that joint  honour and  are poised to set new record.
Some countries went into the competition with impressive credentials that were bound to intimidate opponents. Indeed, many Nigerians lost confidence in the ability of the Eaglets to go far in the championship, especially owing to the usual Nigerian factor of fire-brigade approach in preparations for  competitions.
The Nigerian lads defeated defending champions and eventual opponent in today’s finals 6-1, drew 3-3 with Sweden and cut to size Iran 4-1 in the preliminary stages before posting a 2-0 victory over Uruguay in the quarter final and a 3-0 bashing of Sweden in the semi-final to set the stage for today’s final.
While we join millions of many well-meaning Nigerians to pray for the victory of the Eaglets today, we cannot fail to recall the brilliant record posted by Nigeria at this level of the age-grade Under-17 championship in which the Under-17 lads became the first to win that grade of global competition at China 1985.
The Golden Eaglets went on to repeat the feat in Japan in 1993 and in South Korea in 2007.  With a total of seven appearances in the finals and finishing as runners-up, thrice, the Eaglets have indeed  maintained an enviable leadership even over highly rated Brazil in this championship.
Over the years, it has been eminently canvassed that if these conquering squads were kept together and groomed, they could blend and form the nucleaus of the future senior teams and carry forward their winning streak.
Whether or not this proposal is practicable, given the opportunities for professional careers which these victories open for the individual players overseas, it is sad that very little attention was given to the issue of building on the achievements of these world conquering Eaglets over the years, by the nation’s football administrators.
Even as Brazil, Spain and other football nations face similar challenges, the fact remains that these Under-17 stars form the nucleus of their senior national teams today. There is therefore the need to build on the talents of this crop of U-17 soccer players to end the dilemma of Nigerians sitting on the edge of their seats, unsure of their team whenever it is playing.
The Tide believes that Nigeria has abundance of young talents in all sporting activities, especially in soccer, which, if well harnessed, would earn the country global honours in FIFA-organised championships and other competitions.
While victory at this level of the FIFA organised championship is sweet, we believe that it cannot be full if at the higher levels and especially at the main World Cup, the Super Eagles continue to underperform with disturbing results.
We must therefore, confront the challenge of extending the skills, versatility and exploits of the Under-17 team in the interest of our future in the game. It thus becomes imperative for Nigeria to develop sports, especially football under a ‘catch-them young and groom for the future’ approach, by consciously promoting the establishment of more soccer academies at state and local government levels.
These will without doubt, form the necessary structures that will help identify budding talents at the local levels and groom them for national and international lime-light. The idea of waiting for championships to scout for new talents and let them fizzle out thereafter, cannot raise the ante of our football expectations and results.
As we congratulate the Eaglets for coming thus far and in pursuit of a historic fourth World Cup victory, we urge football administrators at local, State and national levels to articulate and implement programmes that would ensure the evolution of a soccer management policy that targets and indeed pursues positive progression of the all-conquering Eaglets as ready nucleus for promotion into the senior national teams of the future.