Former Super Eagles’ midfielder, Seyi Olofinjana, at Brazil 2014 speaks on happenings within the Nigerian side and the way forward as Africa Cup of Nations 2015 qualifiers beckon.
Olofinjana, a Chemical Engineering graduate, played for Crown and Kwara United before moving to Europe, played alongside Jay Jay Okocha and Nwankwo Kanu among others in the national team.
In Europe, he played for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Hull City and lately, Sheffield. He is in Brazil as one of the media men on the platform of OSMI. He took time to speak with Kunle Solaja on the future of the Super Eagles.
Overall assessment of Nigeria at the tournament
Coming to this tournament was a good thing for the present crop of the Super Eagles. It has given them a taste of what it is to play at the biggest stage of football which is the World Cup. With regards to their first game which was against Iran, they probably got surprised by the Iranians whom they thought would probably come out to attack. When they stayed back, probably out of respect for us, it became frustrating for the Super Eagles.
They lacked ideas on what to do. It was very unfortunate. But going to the game with Bosnia Herzegovina, they knew they just must get the three points to be able to advance in the next match against Argentina. They knew the chances of getting points from Argentina was small, hence the tie with Bosnia Herzegovina was the crunch game.
They did just that. Recall it was almost the same team fielded against with the exception of Michael Babatunde who played in place of Victor Moses. It was as if it was a different team that played. The attitude shown in the first game changed as our boys were more purposeful. It was a different application. It was as if it was a different team entirely. They threw everything into the game and it worked well for us. The result showed clearly.
That gave them a lot of confidence going into the last group game with Argentina.
They really played well and showed why they were African champions. Most of the boys are still very young and the sky appears to be the limit for them.
With regards to the game with France, the boys went in with a lot of confidence. They have a way of raising our hopes, though I knew it was going to be a difficult game. I also knew, as a former player that the longer we stayed in the game, the better for our chance of scaling through. Winning was achievable.
It will have to be from character of 11 men with the help of three others (the substitutes), which I think they lacked. When Ogenyi Onazi was injured and had to be replaced, that was the end of the team. The midfield collapsed. There was no fighting for the ball in the midfield. There was no one to fill the gap. Gabriel Ruben who came in was probably playing his first game and was not in the best of form.
Four matches played, only one won, what does this say about the team?
It will be a misplaced hope to expect the Super Eagles to come here and win as many matches, they played, given the level of our preparation. Look at the Argentina that we lost to; their preparations started the moment they crashed out of South Africa 2010. These were the guys that have prepared for four years.
Of course we did it in parts, but we needed to do more. I am not condemning our preparation totally, but it has to be better planned. When we play friendly matches, they must be quality ones.
Thank God the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers are coming again in the next few weeks, we need to use those matches as part of our rebuilding process for the next World Cup, where I expect us to cross the hurdles. We need consistent performance from the boys. Let us keep this team. Let’s spread our search for quality friendly matches beyond the traditional ones with Mexico, Ireland and Jamaica and so on. We have played these teams many times. Let us try some bigger teams like England, Germany and so on.
It will raise the level of confidence of our players. For instance, a player will say “oh, if I can give a good account of myself against England and Germany, then I can play against any team in the world.”
Let us not limit our expectations. Let us not go to the World Cup and be thinking of surprising ourselves. One good thing about the present team is that most of the boys are still young. In fact, our team is one of the youngest in this World Cup. Russia 2018 should be our target. It will be the great test for us.
Four matches played, three goals scored and five conceded: what does this say about Nigeria?
It is down to our performance. I think they performed well. Only five goals conceded? It could have been disastrous. We should thank Vincent Enyeama in goal. It would have been 15 goals in our net. Individual errors sometimes resulted into those goals. Also, for consideration is lack of tactical discipline within units. Talents for talents, the French side was better.
What substitution would have been made to change the game in our favour?
In the heat of the battle, it is difficult to say I will do this or I will do that. So, don’t take anything away from the coach. It is a difficult job. The games are often different and you may be forced to take decisions you never planned for. After the match, it is easy for you to reflect, I could have done this or that.
Now looking back, I think Ramon Azeez should have come in place of Ruben Gabriel. The young man did enough to merit a place in the team. When Onazi got injured and had to be replaced, Azeez should have been called upon. We needed someone to perform the holding role in the midfield. Mikel was not doing that at all. He marked nobody. He was not doing the holding role. He was just strolling around on the pitch. He never played like that in Chelsea. The choice would have been to either move him a little upfront while Azeez falls back.
After World Cup, what are your expectations on the Super Eagles?
Let’s not just sit back and be lamenting our failure of not getting to the quarter finals. We should be looking towards future challenges, especially with Russia 2018 World Cup as the target to scale higher heights. But before then, we have an immediate assignment of qualifying for Morocco 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
What’s your take on the likelihood of Keshi being replaced?
It will not augur well for our team. One of our biggest problems is the lack of continuity. A new man come to the saddle and begins the learning curve again. He will start to assemble a new team instead of building on the existing one. He will begin to learn the mentality of the players and so on.
What has taken Clemens Westerhof five years to achieve has been done by Keshi in less than three yearsHe won the Africa Cup of Nations away from home, qualified for the World Cup and got to the Round of 16 like Westerhof did.
Keshi is a Nigerian and would naturally love to work for his fatherland. If there are issues between him and the NFF, I think it is better to look into that and get them resolved.
If he stays, he should be further empowered. A new coach comes with a new approach and mentality. So by the time the next World Cup comes up, we will again still be in rebuilding process instead of consolidating.
What have you been doing since the end of your active playing days?
I am still playing, only that I am no longer in the national team, which I was privileged to have featured for. I am also still improving on myself. As you know, I am at the World Cup to do media job. I am also getting myself educated in all forms. As you may know, it is better to speak from position of knowledge and not just from experience.
I have done my UEFA A and B coaching licence courses. I will soon begin the professional coaching licence course.
Learnt you are still also into academics…
Yes. As you know, I graduated as Chemical Engineer at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Nigeria and also last year finished my masters in Project Management at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland. I also embarked on oil and gas engineering, which I have not concluded.
How were you able to combine academics with sports?
Well, it is tough. But the academic background has moulded me. Unlike most of my colleagues, I had very few friends in football as most of the time; I had to dash off from the pitch to the classrooms and also had a lot of academic assignments to undertake. I don’t engage in many off field social activities like my colleagues do because of daunting Academic pursuits.
I was privileged to play alongside many talented players in the national team like Austin Okocha, Julius Aghahowa, Nwankwo Kanu, Joseph Yobo, Obafemi Martins and Vincent Enyeama.
That was a complete squad. But I must confess that we underachieved owing to off field activities. We were not disciplined enough to honour national team calls promptly and were also too demanding.
