Super Eagles non qualification; Matters arising.

   This was the question on our lips yesterday night as we failed to conquer the Bafana Bafana of South Africa right in the Akwa Ibom stadium. Wetin deze boys dey play sef?!    Nigerians had lost hope of qualifying for AFCON 2015 until we went to Pont Noire and defeated the Congolese by two goals. After that victory, our dead hopes were resurrected. While optimists believed we were going to spank South Africa in Uyo and go ahead to qualify, pessimists went about their businesses with no iota of interest in Nigeria's qualification.
   From the start, it was obvious our defence was suspect. A massively unfit Kenneth Omeruo pairing with a sensible but snail like Azubuike Egwuekwe was a disaster waiting to happen. Efe Ambrose have not come to terms with the fact that he is first of all a defender before anything else. Juwon Oshinawan is energetic and ambitious. But is always in a hurry,and in an attempt at ball control always gave away the ball per second per second. It didn't take long before the Jacob Zuma boys struck. Rantie capitalised on a foul smelling defence to net a brace. Thanks to Nigeria's dependable goalie Vincent Enyeama, Rantie was limited to 'just' two goals. Ike Uche allowed his first touches to let him down. Emenike kept walking around the field like a barrel chested club bouncer checking on trouble makers. He didn't bite. Ahmed Musa had the mother of all opportunities to bury the game but he chose to turn the South African goalkeeper to a hero. Those misses eventually came back to haunt them. The technical crew should have had the guts to hurl Emenike and Onazi out. On Onazi, he is off form. Yes his work rate is still top notch. But football is not all about energy. If it was, men like Kanu Nwankwo and Peter Crouch will be selling water melon.
Nigeria doesn't have a sensible football structure in place. The stench of our football equals that of our politics. Talents abound in Nigeria. But it's not about the talents. The onus lies on the talented individuals to work hard. Talent is never enough to pave way for success. It's discipline, hard work and willingness to improve in a talented player that ensures success. Then, there should be a sane structure to harness the talents. Nigeria's football is rotten. Decayed. Dead. We are way behind presently. If Eagles play a bunch of pot bellied drunks gathered from an open bar in Mushin, victory isn't sure. It's that bad. I have said it on this streets before and I repeat; Stephen Keshi is not a bad coach,but when a coach invite players based on their loyalty to him than on current form there is a problem. Even Enyeama will stay put on the field in Ejide's absence knowing that the person to take over is Chigozie Agbim. Agbim is a sorry sight to behold in between the sticks. He doesn't instil the remotest confidence in his team mates. Keshi shot himself on the foot with his own gun. He should blame nobody. We know the NFF is notorious. Keshi knew this before he took over. As a supremo,take key decisions even if it goes against the whims of the NFF. Do that and when you run into problems with men from the glass house, Nigerians will rally round you.  We showed this during 2013 AFCON when they tried to ridicule him.
The next thing we will hear is that we are going back to the drawing board. Again?! Since I started Nigerian football we have gone back to this same drawing board on countless occasions. I am sure that drawing board is filled up by now. We need to get it right. Put a structure in place. Ensure that round pegs are in round holes.
   The biggest losers from our non qualification are the millions of Nigerians who were left disappointed. Still, NFF officials who have readied their bags and pockets for the pleasure trip of going to AFCON with families and girlfriends have lost out too. I will be the most disappointed person if Amaju Pinnick doesn't get It right. He looks straight enough. He should declare a state of emergency on our football.