Former Super Eagles coach Adegboye Onigbinde believes Nigeria football has remained poor technically and blamed it for Flying Eagles’ loss to their German counterparts at 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.
The promising Nigeria U-20 team crashed out of the World Cup in the round of 16, losing 1-0 to the German team.
Onigbinde said Nigerians should blame neither the players nor their coaches, but the Nigerian football system, which has failed to develop technically over the years.
He said, “The Flying Eagles lost to Germany and people are asking what is wrong with the boys and the coaches. But there is nothing wrong with the boys or the coaches, it is the system that is in trouble. It is a reflection of a systemic problem. Instead of trading blames, we should introspect to find out how we can solve our problems.
“The disappointment is in the fact that one realises that Nigeria can achieve much higher standard with our endowment; the talents are there. I strongly believe that Nigeria can win the senior FIFA World Cup. It is possible. I’m not satisfied with the state of our football.”
Onigbinde, who took the Eagles to the 1984 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, said Nigeria would continue perform below par at international competitions unless the Nigeria Football Federation takes the technical sector of Nigeria football seriously.
He also decried the focus on winning tournaments at all cost, arguing for attention on the development of the game in the country.
He said, “We have great football talents in this country, but we are not identifying them much less harnessing them. You identify, you polish, and then you harness. We are not even doing the first step and that stems from the simple fact that whether you like it or not, football is a technical matter, so the nerve centre of football administration should be the technical sector.”
“The technical sector in the country has been relegated to the background. In fact, it exists only in the name but it’s not adequately functional. Nigeria concentrates on winning competitions at various levels. But competitions are like examinations in schools. Competitions are meant for us to assess the level of our development. But we are not developing, what are we assessing?”
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