Nigeria v. Greece

We left Pretoria at 8 in the morning to keep an appointment in the South African border town of Ficksburg in the Free State province with a couple of ladies from Lesotho --an aunt and a grandma--- who came to pick their nephew and grandson up and take him to his Mom in Lesotho. The Lesothan town of Maputsoe where the ladies live is in clear view of Ficksburg, and we met at the edge of South Africa, with Lesotho just across the street separated from South Africa by a barbed wire fence topped with concertina wire.

After dropping my friend Sunday Ogunronbi’s 5-year-old son with his auntie and grandma, we made a slight detour along the road to Bloemfontein (South Africa’s judicial capital) to take in Maseru, capital of Lesotho, from a distance of 100 yards from the South African side border post. The Free State landscape was reminiscent of the West Texas landscape as you traveled from Big Spring to Lubbock. Parts of it were similar to Big Bend National Park in Texas which is separated from Mexico by the Rio Grande river. With Asanda Katshwa interpreting and Kabelo Moloi contributing a native's views from time to time, Sunday held fort on the language and culture of the area as well as the history. The former Black African “homeland” of Bophuthatswana, last ruled by Lucas Mangope (who is now a pensioner resident in the town of Zeerust in South Africa's NorthWest Province) before the independence of South Africa from the racist, apartheid machine, is within the Free State province. We drove through parts of the former Bop and I could only wonder what life must have been like for Bophuthatswanans during that dark apartheid era. Not that bad, actually, I was informed -- "Bop" was one of the progressive “homelands” --in comparison with Transkei, Ciskei, Gazankulu, Venda andKwaZulu for example. Those Africans who could, emigrated from other "Bantustans" to "Bop" where there was a better quality of life and relative racial harmony, with racial intermarriage legal. Indeed, mixed race couples routinely fled South Africa for Bop where they could marry --something which was illegal under the apartheid laws-- and live in peace --something which they could never hope to do in the racist society constructed in South Africa by the virulently racist National Party government.

We spent 15 minutes looking for parking in a mall close to the stadium and proceeded directly there, a matter of walking 5 minutes from the mall to the stadium which was directly outside … then finding our seats with the game already 18 minutes old and Nigeria nursing a 1-0 lead courtesy of an Uche Kalu header.

What was there to see? My view of our half was obscured by a phalanx of Greek supporters who insisted on standing throughout the match. At first, they stood on the floor, but after they equalized, they stood on their seats and made a nuisance of themselves for other spectators. Time and again, I was politely requested by punters behind me to park my butt on my seat and regretfully pointed out the unfeasibility of the request to my interlocutor, who would then have to stand, and the action was repeated row after pissed-off row… the intervention of stewards had no effect. Eventually the stewards called in the police, who ordered the Greeks to get off the seats, which they did much to everyone’s relief. Except that as soon as the South African police officers departed, the Greeks were back standing on the seats again. It was quite maddening... "...bring me my machine gun ..."

*Umshini wami mshini wami
khawuleth'umshini wami
Umshini wami mshini wami,
khawuleth'umshini wami
Umshini wami mshini wami,
khawuleth'umshini wami
khawuleth'umshini wami
Wen'uyang'ibambezela
umshini wami, khawuleth'umshini wami


Watching Nigeria v. Argentina and Ghana v. Serbia, the crowd only ever got up to do the Mexican wave or for penalty area action.

From the little I was able to observe in the circumstances, Nigeria played well in all areas except for lack of consistent offensive penetration either down the flanks or through the middle. It was a game in which we were screaming for Obasi Ogbuke to come in on the other flank for Uche because the duo of Osaze and himself on both flanks frankly possess the variety, creativity and nous to tear the Greek defense apart whatever flank you put them in, and keep the Greeks absolutely honest.

No offense whatsoever to Kalu Uche but in my book he is more the kind of player who is at home in a central midfield role behind the offense where his shooting would have made the world of difference. For that reason, I would have sacrificed Sani Kaita, left Dickson Etuhu on to shoulder the defensive midfield load in a formation reminiscent of some of the tightest World Cup defenses in living memory --Italy’s during almost every World Cup finals tournament, and England’s backline during the 1982 World Cup finals when Ray Wilkins was stationed in front of Mick Mills, Phil Thompson, Terry Butcher and Kenny Sansom. But I am not Lars Lagerback.

Lagerback is opting for a conservative, defensive-minded Nigeria formation in the deployment of Etuhu AND Kaita. This recognizes the truism that defense wins championships. But defense doesn’t win championships if it is at the expense of offensive firepower. Seen in this light, Kaita’s sending off for a petulant kick on a Greek player appears to be a blessing in disguise --Lagerback can’t pick him any more and MUST move to a more attack-minded formation for our final group game against South Korea. I’m not Lars Lagerback but in his position I know what my first choice lineup would be.

In terms of the outcome, Kaita’s dismissal was a tragedy because with him on the field, it was a contest of 11 v. 11. We needed our complement of players on the pitch because the Greeks were committed to all-out attack, posing a potent threat down the flanks from where they launched cross after cross betting on their superior height advantage. Their strategy was assembled on a policy of eschewing the middle --effectively plugged by Etuhu and Kaita-- and going through the flanks from where a series of dangerous crosses could be sent in. These crosses were pretty well handled by Enyeama, Odiah, Yobo, Shittu and Taiwo, but undoubtedly put us under pressure, which encouraged the Greeks to continue along those lines.

Both goals they scored were avoidable in my book. Quite simply, we gifted Greece 2 goals --one a deflection after a failed closing-down, the other a result of the formidable Enyeama for once being unable to smother a shot --the rebound gave the Greek scorer the rub of the green, and he buried it.

If truth be told, we are well and truly out of these World Cup finals. We may not be mathematically out at this point and a 4-0 win over South Korea may not be outside the realm of possibility. Our fate is not in our hands -- in order to move on to the next round, we need two things to happen:
1. Argentina to beat Greece; and
2. Us to beat South Korea comprehensively.

The third need of course is to end the round with a plus goal difference superior to both Greece and South Korea. Without that, we are out.

This leads to the final point I would like to make: the Nigerian Football Federation needs to decide if it will go with a foreign coach or a local coach after these World Cup finals. The man may or may not be Lars Lagerback. He may or may not be Samson Siasia or Stephen Keshi. What is clear is that he must be a coach with pedigree and a commitment to the attacking principles upon which Nigerian football is traditionally built, and the NFF must be committed to a long-range strategy with this coach which covers the next 4 to 5 years. It is clear from our historical experience with Bora Milutinovic, Festus Onigbinde, and now Lars Lagerback, that short-termism is fraught with more drawbacks than benefits. In my next note I will probably discuss the characteristics for identifying a new coach for Nigeria. But for now, I wish Lars Lagerback and the Eagles luck against South Korea -- they are going to need luck in oodles and gobs.

*My machine my machine
Please bring my machine
My machine my machine
Please bring my machine
My machine my machine
Please bring my machine
Please bring my machine
You're pulling me back
My machine , please bring my machine