Flying Eagles: Time for open heart surgery on Nigerian football?

Nigeria's Flying Eagles crash out of U20 World Cup, exposing NFF's flaws, corruption, and coaching issues.

The Flying Eagles of Nigeria lost 4-0 to Argentina, which brings to an end their participation in the FIFA U20 tournament in Chile, is it time to fix Nigerian football? (Photo credit: Punch)

Following the shameful performance of the Nigerian Flying Eagles at the ongoing FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile, it’s important to look inwards to fix Nigerian football once and for all.

The Flying Eagles lost 4-0 to Argentina in their final group game as they bow out of the tournament with only one point from three games; this result follows the inevitable failure of the senior team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

There was an era in which the Nigerian sides dominated African football and gave a great account on the global stage, but since the age-grade soccer tournaments got strong scrutiny with technology infusion to expose cheats, African teams have started struggling greatly.

In the Nigerian context, there’s so much to touch on as we find solutions to the shameful performances of the teams representing the country at international tourneys. From the NFF’s impunity to indiscipline in teams and coaching inadequacies.

Playing out from the back is a thing in football; can we employ the same tactics for our national football? At what point do we diligently carry out an open-earth surgery on our football house? Why do we have incompetent people occupying seats at NFF?

Why do we even zone NFF seats? Where was it written that the chairman of the NFF must come from a region? If we have competent hands from other regions, should we always ignore them because they’re not from a certain region?

Appointing coaches for our national teams must not always be politicised. Managing age-grade squads takes a certain level of technicality, which many of these coaches being thrown around lack, so why are they always getting the job?

Another cancer in our football is the demand for money from players to be called to represent the country. We’ve heard the testimonies of the likes of David Alaba and Karim Adeyemi, who were both asked to pay a certain amount to be called into the national teams. Who is the loser now?

A certain striker in the senior national team was rumoured to have paid $40,000 to be invited into the national team; you then wonder how some substandard players got into the squad in the first place. We must clean our football henceforth.

Finally, do these footballers know that it’s a huge honour to step out in the colours of the country? Do they know they’re representing a whole nation? Can they begin to show some fight whenever they wear the Super Eagles, the Flying Eagles, or the Golden Eaglets jerseys?