Emmanuel Ndubuisi Odidika, a South Africa based Nigeria coach, has handed out a stern warning to Super Eagles handler, Augustine Eguavoen, that only a win or ‘at worse’ a draw against perennial bitter rivals and West Africa neighbours, Ghana Black Stars, can guarantee the three time African champions a place in Summer’s FIFA World Cup finals in Dohar, Qatar.
The 42-year-old Opopo FC, a S.A.B league (4th tier league) South Africa manager spoke in a personality interview on Wakawaka Sports Extra, an interractive forum, hinted that the World Cup playoff clash billed for the Cape Coast, Ghana, on Friday, March 25, 2022, will no doubt, be a tough clash given the rivalry between the two countries.
He warned that Eguavoen and his charges must avoid defeat if they hope to fly the nation’s flag in the World Cup final later this year, which would incidentally mark Nigeria’s 7th FIFA World Cup finals appearance.
“Nigeria playing against Ghana in a two-legged FIFA World Cup playoff isn’t gonna be an easy game. It won’t be a ‘walk in the park’ match at all”, starts the young tactician. “You have both teams rivalry over the years, there is also the desire and ambition of each one to win and feature in the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar later in the year.
“These factors, put together, makes the two games tough. The most difficult one, if you ask me, is the first leg match slated for (Cape Coast Stadium, Ghana. It’s going to be a tough game. But my advice to Super Eagles coach, Augustine Eguavoen, is this, they (Super Eagles) must not lose the first leg match in Ghana. Eguavoen and his team should not lose in Ghana for whatever reason.
“If he wants that team, Super Eagles, to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, they should not lose in Ghana at all. The best result for the Eagles to hold high their ambition of going to the World Cup in Qatar is a win (in Ghana) or a draw in the worst scenario. But to lose, no matter by whatever margin, 0-1 or half nil, as far as it is losing, will never help their Qatar World Cup dream.
“So, he, coach Eguavoen, must do everything possible, within his technical capacity to ensure that they got the needed point or points. So, he, as the head coach, needs to do the right thing. Win the game there if possible or at worst, draw in Ghana, but the Eagles must not lose. If they lose in Ghana, they would be under serious pressure in the return leg match at home in Abuja while Ghana would be playing with a relaxed and confident mind”.
Coach Odidika claims he had been in touch with the game back home and equally followed Super Eagles games during the concluded African Cup of Nations stagged in Cameroon.
Admitting that Eguavoen’n men posted an impressive start to the campaign in Morocco, winning all three group games to raise Nigerians apetite for a possible fourth silverware haul, Odidka disclosed that Eguavoen’s Eagles shortfall in the AFCON Round of 16 crash to Carthage Eagles of Tunisia was down to ‘tactical’.
“Yes, I did watch the last AFCON stagged in Cameroon. I watched all the games. I was impressed with the first (group) game against Egypt. In that game, I thought we were going to lose. But, honestly speaking, the way we played, I must say, we played very well. I also watched the second game and the third. Then, the fourth game, against Tunisia, while I was watching, I noticed a few things that were supposed to have been done rightly but weren’t. Unfortunately, the assistant coaches didn’t really help the head coach, Eguavoen.
“I’m not really heaping the blame of the defeat on Eguavoen because, in such big games, as head coach, you are always under pressure. You don’t really get the picture of all that is happening on the pitch. So you really need those sitting on the bench to help you read the game. The person sitting on the bench who happens to be your assistant coach, is more settled, not under the same level of pressure with the head coach. So, I expected the assistant coach to do the game reading job for Eguavoen.
“And again, from what I observed, the Super Eagles strength during the AFCON games, rested on (Simon) Moses who operated from the left side of the attack and Samuel Chukwueze on the right. They are very good and skillful players. They happen to be the strength and pivot of the Eagles attack right from the start of the tournament.
“But unfortunately, Tunisia were more smarter than us. Tunisia weren’t a fantastic team in that tournament. But their coach was the one who won the game for them. This is because, they were able to read the game well ahead of time. What they did was to mark out Moses and Chukwueze with two players always on each of them. Each time Moses and Chukwueze had the ball, two players were there to close them down. And with these two players, Moses and Chukwueze, closed down, supplies to the 18-yard box of Tunisia were no longer coming.
“At that point, I expected Eguavoen, who happens to be the head coach, to come up with a plan (B) or perhaps speak with Moses and Chukwueze to swap positions. Mark you, the Tunisians were more defensive all through the game and relied more on the counter (attack) which paid off”.
The Anambra State, South East Nigeria born gaffer would not hide his desire to serve his fatherland in the capacity of a national team coach for any of the age group national teams.
“I’ll consider it a great privilege to work as a Nigeria national team coach especially at the U17s, U20s, U23s levels. To be honest, this is one of my biggest dreams. And I want to assure all Nigerians, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, that if given this oppirtunity, I will ensure that I worked with the right age group of players”, Odidika enthused delightedly.
“If I’m to coach the U17s, I’ll make sure that I worked with players of the right age. The purpose of my decision to work with the right age is for me to help develop future players that would end up becoming Super Eagles players in the shortest possible time. This is because, from my personal observation, most of the players who have played for Nigeria U17 national team end up not progressing to the senior national team.
“This is so because, most of them appear too old. You see someone of 32, 34 years claiming to be 17 years. Then after that U17 national team you won’t see them again. So, one of the things I promise to do, I keep saying it, any day I have this opportunity, I, together with my assistants, we must work with the right age, that’s number one. We will select the right players. Our purpose to develop these players is for them to graduate from U17 to U20, to U23 and then Super Eagles. I’ll consider it a great privilege if I’m given this opportunity of handling the U17 national team”.
He revealed that not having CAF C coaching license denied him a coaching job with an undisclosed Gambian team, but would equally go on to hit out on CAF for delaying organising such coaching course as earlier promised.
“I’ve once applied for a coaching job in Gambia, that was in 2017”, he recalled. “The club invited me but in the end I wasn’t given the job. The club President called and told me they would have made me an assistant coach but they needed me to have a CAF C license. The club President said they loved my profile and that I’m young and look like someone who knows what he’s doing.
“But the problem is, since we finished our coaching course here, CAF had kept promising us they would come and organise the C coaching license course here but till now, they haven’t. To be honest, if I had the opportunity to go to Europe to do this course, I would have gotten the relevant license by now. For six-seven years now, I’ve been waiting.
“So, to do the course is not my problem but the problem is CAF themselves. I’ve tried to reach out to them, to find out the cause of the delay but they keep on saying they are upgrading or is it updating online”.
