It all began with my Nigerian friends telling me, at the beginning of the WC, to watch while the Super Eagles showed the Black Stars how it's done....Oh wow, you sure showed us yeah? I decided not to comment on their sad defeat.....until this caught my attention:
image source: http://www.guardian.co.uk
Basically, Nigeria's President, Goodluck Jonathan has suspended the Super Eagles from playing on the International Stage for the next two years. He has called for an investigation into the hiring of their coach. It seems a few heads will roll for the poor showing in South Africa, and much as I can understand the President's thinking, SOME TEAMS DIDN'T EVEN MAKE IT TO SOUTH AFRICA!!!! Shouldn't you be glad they made it that far? Thank God for small mercies and find ways to improve your team spirit and stop spitting in their faces.And then you have to factor in the fact that there were far more embarrassing defeats for some other nations (cough North Korea cough cough France cough...) In fact, there have been all sorts of rumours about North Korea sending their team to the coalmines as punishment for their poor showing. None of this has been verified, but for a team that came out of nowhere, failed to let any press into their camp, and left South Africa in virtual secrecy....one does have to wonder what's going to happen to them. The commentators didn't even know their names. Frankly, the matches with the DPR were quite depressing, with the commentators calling them by shirt number and having to search for their names. The French Team also wades in murky waters. Blatter has already indicated his displeasure at the French Government's "interference in FIFA matters", what with Sarkozy calling for investigations into the team's mutinous behaviour in SA.
Sorry Mr. Jonathan, but I fail to see how the way to prepare your National team for International games can be to prevent them from playing any international games. Fire your coach if you have to, find some new blood to inject into your team but for goodness sakes, don't suspend them. The team most likely is going to face suspension from FIFA as a result of this action. Is THAT what you want, Mr. Jonathan? For your team to be banned from playing for much longer than necessary? Someone needs to explain the fine points of Sports Psychology to this man.
Goodness, at least when Ivory Coast's National Team was detained in 2000, it was for their own safety after their elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations. Why not take the normal route? Find some fresh blood, motivate your players better, train them till they're lean mean football machines and then you can have something to boast about. I really believe that Nigeria needs to rescind this decision before it's too late. The repercussions far outweigh the benefits in this oh so faulty cost-benefit analysis.
All I keep thinking about is, if Mills tried to suspend the Black Stars, the Nation would revolt. (hint hint)
Enough said lol.
~Daixy~
Well Said!!! Good luck, Goodluck.
ReplyDeleteROFL Steve. Very well put :)
ReplyDeleteWow... footballl makes people loose all form of logical reasoning. Suspending the team is not only extreme, but totally unnecessary. I agree, it'll do more harm than good, Goodluck best do some real good thinking lol...
ReplyDeleteHear Hear Lucci. I wonder who his advisers are and why on earth they're not doing their jobs. Honestly.....
ReplyDeleteNow you know why the man is called "Goodluck." Need I say more? What punishment would he have meted to the Super Eagles if they and our Black Stars had been in the same group and they had played against each other and BS had won? I agree with you, Cuz, that he has to find a way of providing them with positive reinforcement instead his thoughtless decision. In any case, we know the man can't rule - and someone PLEASE knock the damn hat from his head!! He needs a little fresh air...
ReplyDeleteOMG Cuz. You made me LOL so hard!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that hates the hat :P You bring up a good point. What WOULD he have done if Ghana was the team to send them packing?
Ah well, I'm just glad he's not a Saddam Hussein....