Musa and Ideye at The Confederations Cup.

Its Tuesday, the 25th day of June, 2013. One of those days in which you find your table loaded with files but you're bereft of any drive to open one. Which you feel like dashing back home to listen to and maybe just do a  rehash of Bruno Mars's Lazy song. Apparently, I was still labouring under a hang-over from the Confederations Cup disappointment.  

Suddenly, it hit me; Confederations Cup!Yes, Musa and Ideye!

Its often said that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. This was undoubtedly proven to be true with regards to the Super Eagles outing at the Confederations Cup. Before I proceed to vilify, crucify or pour out vituperatives on anybody (as this write up might turn out to be) it is also pertinent to stack praises on those well deserving of it.

 Coach Keshi; Its easy to recall that the last time Nigeria stood still to watch a game with so much passion, unity and patriotism, evidencing the often hidden existence of our Unity as a nation was at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Ever since that spectacular performance, what we've seen in the past years are but flashes of individual brilliance from the likes of Okocha, Kanu, Martins, Aghahowa etc but never a well organized team set up. That said, its plainly undeniable that bringing back such long lost love for National team football is a magical feat to be achieved by only an infinitesimal few. For once in almost two decades, the streets of Nigeria were desolate and deserted and most TV stations were 'OSMIed' simply because the Eagles were flying. For a man whose composure, charisma, discipline, boldness, oozing self-confidence and 'man-in-charge' attitude has restored the spirit of love for National football in the nation, it would be deemed a treasonable felony not to appreciate him. Within months of his widely criticized appointment as head coach of the Super Eagles, Coach Stephen Okechukwu Keshi quickly re-ignited that sense of commitment and dedication that was conspicuously missing from the national team. Besides winning the AFCON trophy in a much dominant and admirable fashion, Coach Keshi also repackaged the beautiful style of Nigerian football which had always been midfield dominance, long range shots, an imposing back four, slow attacking build-up to wear off opponents, accompanied by a sudden bust of pace during counter-attacks. A style of play which greatly suited, and bolstered the flourish of the Chukwus, Taribos, Olisehs, Babayaros, Okochas, Amunikes, Babangidas, Yekinis and ofcourse my favourite Bull.

Watching Nigeria play star-studded elevens like Spain, and a fierce attacking line-up like Uruguay's, it became glaring how much improvement this man had brought to the National team. With a defence line that almost completely quelled all attacking forces of Suarez and Cavani (two of the most feared attackers in World football), I wondered if all other National team coaches we've had in recent past really took time out to select players or just did a random grab bag selection.

Mikel Obi and the Midfield: This man took over the sports headlines of sport newspapers all over the world with the historic tussle between Sir Ferguson and the now 'happy one' even whilst still relatively unknown. His performance at the Confederations Cup once again rekindled memories of the 2005 WYC midfield enforcer in action and why he was such a sort after commodity. His mastery of typical Nigerian style football remains overwhelming to me. With inch perfect passes and surgically precise distribution of the ball, he really did dominate. Too bad those sterling displays were barely ever utilized by the much inept duo of Musa and Ideye who deemed it more pragmatic to ALWAYS shoot before they think.

Obaobona and the Defence line; A home based player with 'limited experience'. That clearly wasn't the case for Oboabona who quite easily bullied the likes of Suarez, Cavani, Iniesta, Pedro to name a few on a regular basis. His partner, Kenneth Omeruo having displaced a towering figure like Joseph Yobo has continued to ooze the confidence of a world class centre back despite his surprisingly young age.

Musa, Ideye and the Attacking Third; Call it instincts, call it experience, but from the moment heard of Emenike and Moses's non participation in the tournament, I was convinced that our chances at the fiesta had been decimated. However, one man took it upon himself to prove me wrong-Nnamdi Oduamadi. Showing so much composure and confidence in the manner of a natural finisher seemed to be like an ember in a somewhat dark tunnel, albeit against the worst defence ever in a senior FIFA competition. Too bad his stellar performance was cut short by an arguably benign looking tackle.

Turning the the most dismal performers; Musa and Ideye. Yeah! they both swore to confirm my worst fears and prediction as to the lack of striking options. I'm forced to wonder how these two men having played in offensive positions all footballing lives, still find it difficult to maintain a certain level of calmness in front of goal, or understand the elementary football principle that goals win you matches, and chances must be converted to win games. As for Musa, I dare to argue that if not for the regular unscheduled drug tests involved in professional football, I would bet my full viscera that his nostrils are not clean. With a blistering pace, enough to outrun any defender in the world, this young man's abject naivety, poor decision making, thoughtlessness, befogged vision, consistent and unrealistic over ambitiousness and rashness, in the final third remains unbeatable...maybe only by a certain Bebe once over-valued by Sir Alex. Ideye on the other hand reminds me of the need to put ones brain in gear before attempting to make any move. Never seen a more profligate striker save for Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner. A total travesty of confidence and composure. On several occasions, when the over-head Cameras zoomed on him, he consistently revealed an expression on his face which read thus:"heeey!kai, too bad, I was supposed/ trying to do this. Okay I'll try out something else next time. Please just pass the ball to me again, I didn't know what to do then, but I'll score this time". That look appeared on his face a million times. Yet, he'd still repeat the same error. Having played football for many years, like every average Nigerian male, it is of elementary knowledge that striking opportunities must as much as possible be well utilized. Futhermore, when deployed in a 4:4:2 formation, you are being told to pair up/ play with an accompanying striker, rather than doing it all alone in a Didier Drogbalike style. What Ideye opted to do was attempt to play like a lone striker, then turn around to complain to his teammates that the opposing defenders didn't allow him get a good shot on goal like they were supposed to watch him play.

More so, like Torres showed in his goal against the Eagles, when he attacked the ball before Obaobona could make a clearance, the natural instinct of a striker is to get to the ball first before a defender does. Ideye saw himself doing the reverse and hoping a cross misses a defender or vice versa for him to score, rather than playing in front of his marker. Watching the grossly obtuse performance of Musa and Ideye, it brought to mind the fact that the greatest people in life were never really given the best opportunities per se, rather they made the best of the few opportunities they had.

Till next time, let's hope the block  doesn't come again, all we can do is hope for the return of Moses and Emenike as they shake of their injury woes to help the Eagles hit a home run and at least give Nigerians something to cheer for at the Grand finale in Brazil.

PS. Other good actors on the day worth appreciating are Enyeama, Uwa Echiejile, Efe Ambrose, Fegor Ogude, for improving on his tackles, and Sunday Mba, whom despite an obvious lax in form still managed to put up flashes of brilliant displays.