WITH ADEBAYO OLODAN
The 2019 Golden Eaglets squad assembled by Manu Garba will go down in
history as the worst team to represent the country at schoolboy level.
In a match Nigerians stayed awake till 12midnight, Manu and his boys
contrived to allow the underrated Dutch side thrash them 3-1 in a
match they had no business losing.
The defeat was particularly excruciating for some football aficionados
in the country who had to stream the match using their data.
The team struggled to secure victory in their opening two matches
having conceded some needless and avoidable goals.
The defence of the Eaglets was nothing but a basket judging by the
number of goals the team conceded in four matches in Brazil. Having
conceded a total of seven matches in their group matches, it was
apparent the current Golden Eaglets squad lacked the quality to go as
far as the semifinals. Their 1-3 reverse against the Netherlands was a
disaster expected to happen but may be at a later stage.
Truth be told, the 2019 U-17 squad had no resemblance to the teams
assembled by Manu Garba in the past leading to insinuation that the
coach may have compromised somewhere and somehow.
The gaffer cannot confidently tell 180 million Nigerians that having
travelled the length and breadth of the country, this is the best
squad he could assemble in the U-17 grade.
There were reports flying around after the exit of the team that money
exchanged hands and that an unnamed Lagos chief imposed some players
on the team.
Also, a football administrator, Alhaji Gara Gombe directly launched an
allegation via his Facebook page against Manu and his colleagues ,
saying 80 per cent of the boys that made up the team to the FIFA U17
World Cup currently ongoing in Brazil are over-aged and that all the
players paid their way into the team, with each player coughing a
minimum of 10,000 US dollars (approximately N3.6 million).
On the same Facebook post, Ayuba Mohammed accused Head Coach of the
team Manu Garba of corruption, saying the coach refused to pick talent
from Gombe or northeast Nigeria because they don’t have money to pay.
It is not that Nigerians are condemning the team for not winning or
going as far as the final, one thing is clear; the essence of
participating in age grade competition is the development of the
players and coaches.
Perhaps, it may be time for the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to
consider other local coaches for the U-17 team.
Manu Garba has had his best moments at the junior level and should not
be considered a total failure if he is eventually shown the exit.
