Firstly, i have to admit that I am one of those that did not give the Super Eagles any chance whatsoever of getting anywhere near the final not to talk of winning the competition itself.
I would also like to point out that this is still a work in progress as this team is not at its best yet; if you compare this current crop of Super Eagles to other teams we have had in times past, you would agree that it in terms of quality; it still lacks it in certain departments. In my opinion, this is a victory for team work, team spirit and absolute guts; I am definitely proud to be a Nigerian. We review the tournament in general, highlighting the disappointments, the new kids on the block, my highlight and of course my team of the tournament as well as other awards.
In review of the tournament in general, there were some certain things i was quite disappointed with; officiating was very poor, poor state of some pitches and the general approach play and style of teams. I believe African teams seem to be getting too tactical, the raw burst of pace and flair was quite absent at this AFCON, we had too many tactical duos in this tournament and I can boldly tell you that one of the main reasons Nigeria won this time around was mainly due to return back to the basics. Stephen Keshi returned to the tactical basics that makes the Eagles really Super; the use of the flanks/wings with an injection of raw undiluted pace which this current crop of Eagles have in abundance. The Nigerian team could run at you from both flanks and you would not know what hit you; Victor Moses on the Left, cutting in field to create in the middle; Emmanuel Emenike and Brown Ideye on the right inter changing periodically with Ahmed Musa and Ike Uche to be called up from the bench. It was almost like the days of Finidi George on the Right and Emmanuel Amunike on the left with the likes of Ikpeba and Tijani Babangida to be called up from the bench. Its a refreshing change from the overwhelming desire to copy and play like the Europeans, chopping and changing formations from time to time.
Disappointments
Asides the poor officiating and the poor state of some pitches; i must say the other big disappointments has to be the Ivorians and the North African teams. For Ivory Coast, this was supposed to be the Golden generation, the chosen ones to bring back glad tidings to the long suffering people of the Ivory Coast since their last win in 1992. Boasting the best players on the continent, it seemed very much like this was going to be the year of the Elephant; but they looked somewhat jaded in the Quarter Finals and were eventually ousted by Nigeria.
My disappointment with the North African teams stems from their inability to not have a single representative in the knock out stage of the tournament especially for all their dominance of African on the club scene. I expect this to be translated to some form of impact on their National sides.
Highlight
From a Nigerian perspective, the eventually elimination of the Ivory Coast was shocking, but breathe life into the tournament as a whole. For the tournament as a whole; the rescinding of Jonathan Pitiriopa's Red Card and suspension from taking part in the final showed that Football still had a human face and compassionate side to it.
Revelation(s) of the Tournament
As usual i will take it from a Nigerian Perspective at first; Sunday Mba may get all the plaudits for his crucial goals; but i have fallen head over heels (no homo) for Kenneth Omeruo. Not in the starting line up for the first game and not consider by many as a player who would make any major impact; this young lad came into the team, got the captain dropped (bold move by Keshi) and put up excellent displays all through.
What's amazing is the way he slotted into Centre Back easily, kept mighty Didier Drogba in his Pocket (I am not getting carried away here, he did in my opinion); even as monstrous as Acheru Bance is, he was totally unmoved. He is a quiet, smooth operator of a defender and my revelation of AFCON13.
Player of the Tournament
I can consider myself John Obi Mikel's biggest critic, i have never seen anything special about him, dumped Manchester United for Chelsea (who does that?); went from creative genius and second best player at under 21 in 2005 to a primitive, sideways passing midfielder that could not score to save his life.
AFCON13 has changed all these, because Mikel showed a different side to him; demonstrated a maturity never seen before. Despite not been the captain of the team, he showed and displayed glaring leadership qualities; for this and his best piece of play for the Super Eagles, I crown him my player of the tournament despite whatever CAF may think.
AFCON 13 Best 11
As usual I disagree with CAF in their selection, instead of a 3-5-2; i will go with a 4-3-3 formation.
Enyeama (Nigeria), Ambrose (Nigeria), Tamboura (Mali), Kone (Burkina Faso), Omeruo (Nigeria), Mikel (Nigeria), Seydou Keita (Mali), Kodjo Asamoah (Ghana), Moses (Nigeria), Emenike (Nigeria), Pitiriopa (Burkina Faso).
Conclusion
Big thank you to Stephen Keshi (The Big Boss) for putting smiles on the faces of Nigerians after 19 long years, this is very much appreciated. He was given very little chance, believed in his conviction, stepped on a number of toes, dropped some twitter ranting, transfer deadline day desperate players, believed in the home based players and had the guts to drop his Captain from the team.
I hear, he has resigned, but I am ignoring the news and still celebrating the victory.
UP EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Adeyemi Adesanya
Follow @yemimanutd
Tactics IQ Limited
We appreciate your thoughts and comments on all our blog posts, please keep them coming….
Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/tacticsiq
Like the page on facebook: www.facebook.com/tacticsiqlimited
Nice piece, @yemimanutd. The tournament, I think, was lacklustre, with the big mames like Egypt, Morocco, Cameroun and Senegal absent to add to the "block buster" effect. The tournament however revealed the dominance of West Africa as the fulcrum and powerbase of African football, with no less than 6 WA countries scaling it to the quarter finals to set up an all WA semis. I do not wish to be a party pooper and dampen the celebrations of a delightful nation upon ending a 19 year drought (a tournament they last won 10 editions ago), but I think we share the same sentiments when you say the current crop is a far cry from the set of Finidi, Ikpeba, Tijani and them. There's still a lot of work to be done. The Eagles need to immediately start working towards Morocco in Jan 2015 NOW. The NFF and Sports Ministry need to work and do what's right. Let's fix the wrongs and make the country work - in every facet. If the Malians can keep focused and make it all the way to the semis despite serious fighting and war at home, what excuse do the Eagles have not to build on this and possibly defend their title next time? The Super Eagles won new fans this tournament across the continent and even in the world, and rekindled the flames of disillusioned faithfuls that had almost gone off. I personally remain unmoved and extremely unsupportive of the Eagles. Years of hearbreak and disappointment from the Eagles have made me nonchalant, and I am not alone. But perhaps there might be a road to reconciliation ahead...time will tell. But for now, I must say congratulations to the Super Eagles.
ReplyDeleteFantastic, thank u very much for your comment; truer words have not been spoken.
ReplyDelete