The goalkeeping loophole: Like Okoye like Uzoho
Football is a team event and it is about winning. Winning is also about scoring goals and scoring can only be achieved if and when the team plays with determination and focus.
On the pitch it could appear to be different strokes for different folks as the players have different roles. The attackers prove their mettle through breaking the defence to score the needed goals.
The defenders take it upon themselves to keep the attackers away and serve as a barrier to their dream of getting the ball behind the goalkeeper.
The midfielders are the link between the defence and the attack and serve as engine room holding and distributing the balls to achieve set target or in line with agreed playing pattern.
A team with a good midfield or even a play maker or midfield maestro has the capacity to soak pressure and even determine the tempo of the match. The goalkeeper on their other hand has his area of coverage and his primary function is to ensure that no one gets the ball behind him.
Sometimes a goalkeeper can single handedly save a team from defeat and sometimes could be their waterloo.
Nigeria’s ouster from the last Nations cup in Cameroon and failure to qualify for the world cup took almost the same pattern. At the Nations Cup in the group of 16 clash against Tunisia; what has been dubbed in some quarters as a weak shot was all that it took to oust Eagles as Maduka Okoye was caught napping when it mattered most.
Again in the final leg of the World Cup play-off in front of capacity crowd at the MKO Stadium Abuja, another cheap goal ten minutes into the match delivered by Ghana’s Thomas Pathey contributed in showing the Eagles the door. This time it was Francis Uzoho that failed to click
Missing the World Cup ticket has been a source of lamentation for some Nigerians and also a source of ‘Happiness’ for others.
Those who are lamenting believe Nigeria with her array of footballing stars scattered in Europe, has gone past the stage of struggling to qualify for international meets.
Those who believe in this school of thought insists that Nigeria by now should be eyeing impressive finish at the Mundial after six experiences and not running from pillar to post just to qualify.
On the other hand those who are happy about the flop, point to billions of Naira that would have been allocated to that project only to crash out in the first round like tourists in Qatar just to sight-see.
They also insist that there are several challenges in the country today which the nation should concentrate on tackling.
They equally reason that if Nigeria had qualified for the World cup the groove associated with the Mundial will create a make believe that all is well amidst suffering and smiling like great Fela would say.
It is hoped that before the next World Cup in 2026 we would have leant:
That you don’t get or go to the world cup with divided technical crew.
That you don’t experiment with players when walking on a tight rope as a slip ends the journey
To hand coaches properly signed and sealed contract with targets so that they can take responsibility for success and failures.
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That appointing and experimenting with coaches just few weeks to major championship is expressway to failure and finally that sentimental appointment of coaches can never achieve the desired result.
Those who qualified for Qatar 2022 including Black Stars of Ghana worked hard for it, let’s congratulate them and begin to search for a genuine drawing board to return to.