BY JOE APU
In a year that has been full of mixed feelings, Nigerians want to forget in a hurry the happenings that characterized her sports. Weightlifting, basketball, tennis and indeed virtually all other sports had tough times.
Football, which has remained the rallying point for the Nigerian populace turned out a failure, as our various national teams would be absent from major international championships on CAF calendar in 2017.
Signs of what was to come began in February when Sunday Oliseh resigned as Head Coach of the Nigerian football national team, the Super Eagles, just over seven months after he was appointed.
Oliseh, who announced his resignation on Twitter, said he took the decision due to the inability of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, to honour the terms of his contract.
“Due to contract violations, lack of support, unpaid wages, benefits to my players, assistant coaches and myself, I resign as Super Eagles Chief Coach,” he tweeted.
In a preceding tweet before announcing his resignation, Oliseh thanked Nigerians for the opportunity to serve as coach of the national team
“I feel fortunate, blessed and eternally grateful for having the honour to play, captain and coach this great nation of ours, Nigeria.”
Oliseh, whose appointment was made with much fanfare by the NFF, soon started having problems with the executives of the federation over remuneration, match tactics and results.
His complaint about being owed was not well received by the NFF, which rather threatened to sanction him.
He also had challenges managing the players. An altercation between the coach and the team’s former captain and the country’s most capped goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, led to the goalie’s premature resignation from the team last October. Another Super Eagles player, Emmanuel Emenike also quit the national team citing personal reasons.
Apparently, the last straw that broke the camel’s back for Oliseh was the woeful outing of the Super Eagles at the CHAN competition in Rwanda, where the team was eliminated in the first round.
In a quick reaction to Oliseh’s resignation, the NFF re-appointed Samson Siasia as Eagles Head Coach. Oliseh worked with respected tactician Salisu Yusuf, FIFA U-17 World Cup –winner Emmanuel Amuneke and Alloy Agu for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Egypt.
Siasia had served as Super Eagles’ Head Coach between December 2010 and October 2011, before his contract was terminated following the team’s failure to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
With Oliseh gone, the month of March witnessed Nigeria suffering elimination from the AFCON 2017 Championship billed for Gabon by the Pharaohs of Egypt.
A 65th minute goal from Ramadan Sobhy of Egypt stopped the Super Eagles from making it to the competition.
Nigeria needed an outright win from the second leg of the double header qualifying match after the Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw in Kaduna.
On June 7, Nigerian football was thrown into mourning when her ex-Super Eagles captain and one of only two men to win the Africa Cup of Nations as a player and a coach, Stephen Keshi died suddenly at the age of 54.
Keshi, who was reported to have suffered a heart-attack also managed Togo and Mali, while his playing career included a spell with Belgian club side Anderlecht.
Keshi skippered the Nigeria team that won the Nations Cup in 1994 before narrowly missing out on a World Cup quarter-final place the same year.
He coached the Super Eagles on three occasions, leading them to the 2013 Nations Cup title in South Africa and the last 16 at the Brazil 2014 World Cup.
While Nigerians and football followers around the globe were yet to come to terms with the passing on of Keshi, another icon Shuaibu Amodu, the only man to have qualified Nigeria for two World Cup finals, died at the age of 58 on June 10.
Amodu, who coached Nigeria on four different occasions, passed away in his sleep in the Southern Nigerian city of Benin, after complaining of chest problems.
Amodu qualified the Super Eagles for the FIFA World Cup in 2002 and 2010, but did not lead the team to the finals. He also qualified the Beach Soccer National Team for the 2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, but did not lead the team at the finals as he refused to travel to Brazil.
In July, Nigeria’s woes continued with the Flying Eagles unexpectedly crashing out of the 2017 AFCON U20 finals qualification race following a stunning defeat by their Sudanese opponents at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
Same month, the Nigeria Football Supporters Club came into focus as conflicting statements emanated from the National Executive Council and the states chairmen announced the sack of its acting National Chairman, Vincent Okumagba, for gross misconduct, anti-club activities, abuse of office and flagrant disrespect for constituted authority.
But a counter statement released by the forum of State Chairmen after a meeting in Ilorin, Kwara State, demanded an end to Dr. Rafiu Ladipo’s reign as the leader of the body.
In August, Manu Garba’s team the Golden Eaglets joined the train of teams that crashed out as it emerged that they will not be defending their world title after bowing to the Baby Menas in Niamey. Nigeria bowed 3-1 to Niger Republic in the second leg, second round of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Having won 1-0 in the first leg, Manu Garba’s boys needed at least a draw to progress to the third round of qualifier but they were unable to do their part as they fell to the Menas.
With the defeat, the Golden Eaglets will not be at the 2017 U17 Africa Cup of Nations billed for Madagascar which serves as qualifiers for the FIFA U17 World Cup in India. Nigeria won the 2015 edition staged in Chile.
In September, the Nigeria Football Federation announced that Gernot Rohr is the new Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles.
Rohr, 63, was recommended by the NFF’s Technical and Development Committee and signed a two-year deal. Rohr has since his arrival given Nigerians something to cheer.
Olympics:
Nigeria’s Rio 2016 Olympic Games was a tale of woes as complaints hit the roofs over funds and the contingent marching in track suits as against the traditional attire that had been the norm.
However, the country got a consolation as the Dream Team led by Chelsea of England midfielder Mikel Obi won her first and only medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as the country’s men’s football team won bronze after defeating Honduras in Belo Horizonte in the third place match.
The team dubbed Dream Team VI, risked disqualification from the football tournament after they barely made it for their first match at the Olympics against Japan. But despite making it to Brazil from their training base in Atlanta, USA, a few hours before the game, they came out on top in a thrilling contest that ended 5-4.
Their performance earned worldwide attention and commendation especially as the team defeated Sweden 1-0 in their second match to qualify for the latter stages of the competition. But the disputes between players and officials continued with the team threatening at some point to boycott their quarter-final match against Denmark over unpaid allowances.
There were reports that team captain Mikel had to bail the team out by helping out with bills before being refunded by sports ministry officials. The team however continued to defy the odds by beating Denmark 2-0. Suddenly the dream of winning gold seemed attainable, with Germany the country standing between Nigeria and another Olympic football final.
Celebrated Japanese plastic surgeon, Katsuya Takasu, was so impressed by the team’s exploits that he announced his desire to reward them with $30,000 for a gold medal, $20,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze after hearing about their financial woes.
“I read about the financial problems affecting the team and I felt the need to make a big contribution,” Takasu had said. “I am not doing this for media attention but to motivate a team with an indomitable spirit. I fell in love with the Nigerian team because despite all these problems they are in the quarter-finals of the Olympics.”
Paralympics:
Relief came the way of Nigerian sports in September with the outstanding performance of the her paralympic team to Rio.
Some of the gold medal winners included Ezuruike Roland, Kehinde Paul, Ejike Lucy, Onye Lauritta, Nwosu Ndidi, Omolayo Bose, Ugwunwa Flora, and Orji Josephine.
The silver medalists were Tijani Latifat and Oyema Esther while Innocent Nnamdi and Iyiazi Eucharia won bronze.
Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers:
The quest for a sixth FIFA World Cup appearance officially started with The Super Eagles of Nigeria off to a bright start in their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign as they defeated Zambia 2-1 to pick up their first ever away win against the Chipolopolo.
On the home front, Rangers International were crowned champions of the 2015/2016 Nigeria Professional Football League.
The Enugu-based club demolished El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri 4-0 in their last match of the season to seal the title.
Chisom Egbuchulam scored a hat trick while Osas Okoro scored one to help Rangers win their first league title in 32 years.
In November, the Super Eagles continued her fine run in the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers as Victor Moses opened and closed the scoring as Nigeria overcame Algeria 3-1 to take charge of their group.
Captain John Obi Mikel, a Chelsea team-mate of Moses, was also on target for Nigeria at a packed Uyo stadium while Nabil Bentaleb scored for Algeria with an unstoppable drive.
With Cameroon surprisingly held 1-1 at home by Zambia, Nigeria took a four-point lead after matchday 2 in Group B, regarded as the toughest of the five African mini-leagues.
The Nigeria U-20 Women’s team the Falconets crashed out of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea despite a 2-1 win over Spain.
The hard-earned 2-1 win recorded by the Falconets over their Spanish counterparts was unable to keep them in contention.
The Falconets shot themselves on the foot by conceding heavily in their first game against Japan losing 6-0.
In the final group standings, Japan, Spain and Nigeria were all tied on 6 points, but the Falconets were edged out due to their huge goals deficit.
In early December, The Super Falcons put a smile on the faces of Nigerians as they beat the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon by a lone goal to win the 2016 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations.
Desire Oparanozie netted the winner for the Super Falcons in the 85th minute to hand Nigeria their 10th AWCON title.
Two of these titles were won when the tournament was played in a FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers format while eight was won in the proper AWCON tourneys.
Super Falcons coach Florence Omagbemi became the first woman to win the AWCON as a player and as a coach, while Arsenal Ladies striker Asisat Oshoala was voted the highest goal scorer of the tournament having scored 6 goals.
2016 may not have been a rosy year for Nigerian sports but the Falcons wiped away the tears of sports loving Nigerians with the victory in Cameroon. Unfortunately, the joy of the Super Falcons victory turned sour following their sit-in protest in their hotel as well as at the Aso Villa over unpaid allowances. It took the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari for the girls to get their monies paid.