After an impressive performance at the 2023 African Cup of Nations in Cote d'Ivoire under the tutelage of Portuguese gaffer Jose Peseiro, the Super Eagles performance has taken a nosedive.
After beating Ghana in an international friendly in March, the Super Eagles have managed just a single draw in their last three encounters including two crucial World Cup qualifiers.
The three-time African champion lost 2-0 to Mali in a friendly before managing a 1-1 draw with South Africa and a 2-1 loss against Benin Republic in a crucial World Cup qualifier.
The recent poor performances from the team have led to the resignation of Finidi George as head coach after just two games in charge.
In a recent opinion piece, former Nigerian striker Segun Odegbami lashed out at the government for the royal treatment they gave to the Super Eagles after the AFCON in February despite the team's failure to win the trophy.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu honoured each player and official of the Super Eagles with the Member of The Order of The Niger national award for securing the silver medal in Ivory Coast.
Odegbami noted that never in the history of Nigeria had the Super Eagles team receive a hero's welcome for finishing as runners up at the Nations Cup.
Mathematical, as he is affectionately called believes the team's recent struggles is the consequences of rewarding such mediocrity.
“Some 5 months ago, Nigeria broke its own standards. The country rewarded ‘second-best’. She rewarded a team that did not win the trophy in a way such as the world had never seen before,” Odegbami wrote as per Vanguard.
“In history, Nigeria had lost, rather painfully, several finals of previous AFCONs. Twice, in 1988 and 2000, great squads of the Eagles’ that were even glaringly ‘robbed’ of their moments of glory were not welcomed with blaring trumpets, and no celebrations were held to honour or reward their valiant efforts.
“Put that side-by-side the Super Eagles Super Eagles of AFCON 2023. No one had confidence in the team. For almost one decade before, they had won nothing, had not impressed very much, had not produced outstanding performances and performers, and so on. All of this under the tutelage of foreign White coaches.
“Then, Cote D’Ivoire in January of 2023 happened and the same players that broke the hearts of Nigerians with a lethargic performance in the final match were accorded a heroes’ welcome, feted, honoured and handsomely rewarded by the government.
“That gesture was totally out of character with the norm. It must have come with a consequence or a price, as an impetus or a depressant. The players may have concluded they were special indeed.”
WDN