Ex-international, Mutiu Adepoju, in an interview with AJIBADE OLUSESAN, has advised the Nigeria Football Federation to speed up the process for the appointment of the Super Eagles coach, raising the alarm that a further delay might affect the team’s chances both in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers and World Cup series.
We have to be careful when we call any team minnow because, in football, there is no small team again. You can see what is happening at the ongoing Euro 2024. The Eagles must approach all matches with seriousness, I am sure we have all learnt from what we are facing with World Cup qualifiers and I know that with the right preparation, the Eagles can do well.
Talking about preparation, the Eagles are still without a coach after erstwhile handler Finidi George resigned, don’t you think that could affect the team’s chances in the qualifiers?
The NFF is handling that now and we have to allow them to appoint the right person. We hope that that will be sorted out in the coming days and work can start in earnest.
Something disturbing happened when Finidi was in charge, star striker Victor Osimhen in an outburst disrespected the coach but up till now the NFF has yet to sanction the player despite widespread condemnation of the Napoli forward’s attitude….
I think it is an unfortunate incident, it shouldn’t have happened at all but whether they discipline him or not, what he did is not in a good light and I don’t support that. Everything lies with the NFF to decide to disciplinary measures against him or not.
Do you think it is necessary we reintroduce the Code of Conduct into the team? I don’t think it is necessary because all these players are professionals and everybody knows what should be done, if it has not been functioning before, why then should it be reintroduced?
I believe the players are old and professional enough to know what to say at any particular moment and they are free to air their opinions if it is going to be in the best interest of the team. Sometimes, that kind of thing does more damage than helps the team, like I said, they are professionals who know what to do.
The team doesn’t have a coach at the moment, many people believe that NFF shouldn’t go for an expatriate, though Finidi didn’t do quite well in all his two outings, that he should have been allowed to continue, do you share that sentiment too?
That depends on the NFF, they are in charge of doing that, though I supported them when Finidi was made the head coach of the Super Eagles, as it is now, there is nothing I can say that can make any difference, I believe the NFF knows what to do and they will make the right choice for the team and that would make Nigerians happy.
You played at the highest level and played for the Super Eagles for several years under different types of coaches both local and expatriates, is it true that players usually have problems with local coaches by not showing them enough respect but giving so much respect to expatriates?
Those who shared that sentiment don’t know what they are saying; I have worked under several Indigenous coaches and they have all been respected. Can a player work under Chief (Adegboye) Onigbinde, and Shaibu Amodu and not respect them? In my opinion, disrespect is relative, I don’t see disrespect in trying to be yourself. There are situations where coaches are even younger than some of the players, and I have not seen situations where players disrespected them, we have seen that many times in Europe. I worked with the Late Stephen Keshi when he was an assistant to Jo Bonfere at the 2000 Nations Cup, though we were teammates that shouldn’t stop me from respecting him, the coach is the head of a team, and while it is expected that players should respect the coach, the coach should also reciprocate that by respecting the players too in their way.
So much has been written about you and your achievements, but sometimes I wonder what motivated the players of your era to give so much to football, can you give us an overview of how you started the journey and would you say you were fulfilled?
I have always wanted to become a professional footballer especially watching the commitment and achievements of people like Segun Odegbami and Muda Lawal. I was determined to play for Nigeria because of these idols. I pursued my ambition from primary school; I played for my school Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) Staff School, in Ibadan, my father was working there at the time. I also played for Prospect High School, in Ibadan where I had my secondary school education. CRIN had a small football team at the time, I was playing for the junior side before I moved to the senior team from there I was selected as a member of the Oyo state team to the National Sports Festival in 1985 where Femo Scorpion signed me. I played in Division Two at the time before I joined Shooting Stars who were also in that division, t that was in 1985 and I was part of the team that helped 3SC gain promotion at the time. I also remember that in 1986 I was invited to the national U-17 team that attended Canada’87 (FIFA World Championships) but I couldn’t make the team and I had to go back to Femo Scorpions to help them escape relegation at the time. I was in Shooting Stars when I was later invited to the U-20 team by coach Tunde Disu who dropped me for U-17 two years earlier because of my form for 3SC. We had a very good run in the qualifiers and I was one of the most important players in that team. Talking about fulfilment, apart from my junior team experience I participated in the AFCON ‘92 in Senegal, where we came 3rd place and won bronze medals. I played for Nigeria in 56 matches. I represented Nigeria in three World Cups and three Nations Cup tournaments. Nigeria’s first World Cup appearance was in 1994 in the USA, followed by 1998 in France and 2002 in Korea. We finished 3rd and won bronze at the 1992 Nations Cup in Senegal, won the AFCON Cup in 1994, and received the Gold medal. The Flying Eagles of 1989 fame was defined by what people now refer to as the Damman Miracle when you came back from four goals down to defeat the USSR in the quarterfinal but aside from this match which players gave you the biggest problem in that tournament. I would say many players from the Portugal team; those guys were good but I would give it to the goalkeeper of the United States, Kessie Keller. We met in the semifinal and the goalkeeper frustrated us, he was in fine form but luckily we were able to beat them.
You spent more than a decade in the Spain, you even signed for Real Madrid but you never got to play for the senior team, any disappointment?
My philosophy is to move on with life, whatever happens. I have always known that things can never go the way you planned them, and there might be errors, so I move on very quickly. I would rather say that I am fulfilled, you tell me everything that I’ve achieved, I would have achieved much more but I don’t want to have that regret, one thing that someone will say is because I played for Real Madrid and I would have featured more in the first team, whether it’s a regret, but i don’t want to call it to regret and it’s what I believe maybe it wasn’t meant to happen and I took it down and I moved on.
You haven’t ventured into coaching like many of your colleagues and I understand that you have acquired badges…
I have administration course certificates and other coaching badges which I can use. Life after active football is unpredictable, some aren’t lucky that’s why people say it’s either you coach or you’re poor. We all know that the life of a footballer isn’t like that of other professionals such as doctors, or lawyers and once you get close to 30,35 the highest age in football, you must stop football and if you don’t want to stop, your health will force you to stop. I have always tried to plan and prepare for important moments and football administration and that was the reason I pursued my coaching badges while still playing so I could have something to do after playing. As for me, I have the highest coaching badge, UEFA Pro There are so many players that turned to coaches but there are fewer clubs so they can’t accommodate everybody for jobs, so you must have a way to diversify
Before I allow you to go, what will you consider as the highest moments and the lowest of your career?
High moments have always been when you win medals, matches, and championships. In 1994 when we qualified for the first World Cup after drawing against Algeria. It was a different feeling, we made history. Winning the Nations Cup again after 14 years is another great moment. There were some low moments but it was a painful feeling when we were about to beat Italy and progress to the quarterfinal of the World Cup in 1994, we were leading by 1-0, but eventually lost 2-1. Those moments were very saddening.