Lessons From CHAN 2018

Last Sunday evening, millions of Nigerians relegated to the background the many rumblings in the polity as they stayed glued to their television sets to watch their compatriots in the home-based national football team do battle with the Atlas Lions of Morocco in the final match of the 2018 edition of the Championship for African Nations (CHAN) competition.
CHAN 2018 was the fifth edition of the competition for African-based footballers.
At the end of the gruelling encounter, football enthusiasts in the country had their hearts rent, while other Nigerians had their heads bowed in shame as the North African side handed down a whooping 4-0 defeat to the home-based Super Eagles.
Many people have described the defeat as humiliating not only because of the wide margin of the goal difference but also because the CHAN Eagles, as they are also called, were totally outclassed from the first blast of the whistle to the end of the match in all departments of the game, even though the Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) from where the players were drawn is ranked among the best in the continent.
As much as The Tide identifies and understands the mood and sentiments of Nigerians in the circumstances, we cannot but acknowledge and commend this set of players for getting to the finals for the first time in the history of the bi-annual competition which started in 2009 in Ivory Coast. To even get to the finals, it was obvious to many that the players depended on strong determination and the legendary resilient Nigerian spirit to keep their heads above water.
We recall that Nigeria failed to qualify for the first two editions of the competition and only managed to reach the semi-final stage for the first time in 2014 in South Africa. In other words, this year’s edition was Nigeria’s best finishing ever.
However, we must admit that the overall performance of the Nigerian side in this particular game did not live up to the high ranking of the squad. In fact, the 4-0 score line in a final encounter of such a high profile competition is an embarrassment to the country.
We believe that the Nigerian side lost to a technically superior, better prepared, better organised, better motivated and more serious-minded Moroccan team. There is no doubt that the country has a bevy of talents that could bring sporting glory to the nation at every international meet, but organisation and adequate preparation have always been our Achilles’ heels.
For instance, the Nigerian squad was haphazardly put together. We believe that the lads that were assembled and taken to the championships could not have been Nigeria’s best eleven. Ditto for the technical crew. The inclusion of a 15-year old boy in the team, who did not feature more than three minutes in the six matches played in the whole tournament, speaks volumes of our haphazard attitude and approach.
The Tide thinks that for Nigeria to assume its place of pride in the international sporting podium and indeed, in all other spheres of our national life, the twin evils of recruitment of mediocre administrators, technical crews and competitors, and lackluster preparations towards international fiestas must stop. Merit and competence must never be sacrificed on the altar of sentiments, favouritism and any other considerations that have kept us from engaging and making use of our best at all times.
As the 2018 edition of the quadrennial FIFA-organised World Cup competition tagged Russia 2018 comes up in June, this year, Nigeria should learn from its dismal outing in the CHAN finals. Nigerians expect the main Super Eagles to put up a respectable showing as one of the five teams that will be representing Africa, and if possible, bring home the coveted and elusive World Cup trophy.
This is the only way to compensate for the missed trophy at CHAN 2018.