Golden Eaglets; what next?

   Nigerians are yet to recover fully from the euphoria surrounding the Golden Eaglets victory at the recently concluded U-17 World Cup in Abou Dhabi. Nigeria is a football crazy country. Week after week, Nigerians stay glued to their television sets and wait to see their favorite Nigerian and foreign football stars. The average Nigerian has an affiliation to at least one European or Nigerian football club. Either because of who is playing where or because of the club itself. Some ladies have even been known to follow the club their partners support while some young men tend to follow whichever club a prospective lady friend supports. However it comes, the average Nigerian loves football. It is therefore not surprising how Nigerians celebrated the U-17 World Cup victory.
   The Manu Garba boys did Nigeria proud. They seem to have had the expectation of Nigerians at heart as they played their games. For the first time, Nigerians saw really young lads at the cadet level out to do the country proud and make a name for themselves.
Now that the tournament has come and gone, with Nigeria crowned champions, the question now is ; what next? They boys were rewarded financially by the Federal Government. Nigerians are happy with the team. Some have returned to their families and others to their academies to chart the next course. They were besieged by scouts in Abou Dhabi. Some of these scouts are for real and would help the player grow while unfortunately, some of them are just after their own pockets. Whichever is the case, they have to carefully choose their next lines. An alliance with the wrong agent and their career ends even before it starts. A lot of former Nigerian youth internationals disappeared from the radar after a very promising start. To avoid this, all hands must be on deck. NFF should monitor the growth of the boys. Their movement from the various academies to club sides should be a smooth transition devoid of the drama that accompanied some of our former youth internationals. It is a pity that Nigerian club sides don't have a sound youth system, otherwise some of them could still be snapped up by these Nigerian club sides from where they will grow their games. Credit to the League Management Committee, the recently concluded season in the Glo Nigeria Premier League is the best, ever witnessed in the country. Therefore, some of the very organized clubs, which I dare say are very few, less than three, could still sign some of these boys. However, this should only be the case where any of the players is having issues signing a club abroad. Truth be told, these boys have greater  chances to mature their games abroad. Ramon Azeez, captain of the 2009 silver winning U-17 team is gradually developing into a solid holding midfielder in UD Almeira of Spain. Same is the case with Onazi Ogenyi of SS Lazio in the Serie A. Having said that, a move abroad will help develop their game. But if the move doesn't materialise at the expected time, a move to a Nigerian club side will not be out of place, instead of staying back at the various academies or even at home waiting to be scouted by a top European side. Also, a move to a not so highly placed foreign side should not be considered the ultimate. Being cadet players, growing in a moderate outfit will not be out of place. All these should be carefully monitored by the Nigerian Football Federation. The boys should be steered out of the clutches of greedy agents who are only interested in their bank accounts and not the players' growth.
   Nigerians in the football community hope not to witness the drama of the past where agents and club sides/academies fight over issues of player rights. This, impedes in more ways than one, the players growth. Stakeholders should iron out such issues amicably and with a great sense of reasoning. Football enthusiasts want to be able to see the tournaments MVP, Kelechi Iheanacho, Yahaya, Eze, Awoniyi, Samuel Okon and indeed all of them play at he highest stage in the coming years. With humility and hard work, every single player in the team is expected to have a beautiful career.