No offense, but I do not often get involved in female football. I have enough football watching men play. But it has never stopped me from following the Nigerian women team, the Falcons, especially since that epic game with Brazil a few years ago.
But recent events in the team have caught my attention, especially following the hard fought game against Germany in which they lost 1-0, and the unnecessary controversy surrounding comments by the coach Eucharia Uche.
Nigerian sports administrators have a long notorious history of unprofessionalism and maltreatment of sportsmen and women, from unpaid allowances, bonuses and general welfare of teams under their supervision. Those who follow female football closely in Nigeria will tell you that few sportsmen or women are as maltreated as women footballers in Nigeria, often by the very same people who have responsibility for their welfare, including especially women administrators or club owners who use these players as a basis for repeatedly attracting government funds for their personal use!
It is against this background that when Eucharia Uche was appointed coach, I was confident that we had a chance to finally begin to turn the corner, having hired someone who had walked in the shoes of her players and knew first hand what their most important needs were.
It was with shock therefore that rather than fight to uplift the welfare and status of her players and by extension female football in Nigeria, she would allow herself get embroiled in the damaging wedge issue of sexual behavior.
Let there be no misunderstanding! The problems of Nigerian women football obviously goes beyond the current coach. In some ways I actually sympathize with her...she cannot give that which she does not have!
For ninety minutes, our girls showed they had the tools to be successful if someone can figure out how best to use these tools. Even accounting for the extremely generous refereeing, when you can physically dominate a German team to the extent that they did, you certainly have something to work with...
After 5 world cup appearances and multiple continental championships, we need to do better than simply show up, considering the physical tools the girls have, which is what this match demonstrated.
Basic technical issues remain, with passes over 2-3yrds misplaced with consistent regularity..The left-back could not throw the ball properly, a corner kick was played straight out for a goal kick on the side it was taken! Poor decision making characterized all aspects of their game, with players unable to understand proper spacing on the pitch, repeatedly struggle with ball control, execute 15yrd run with the ball only to make/flub a 4yrd pass...I mean am talking about the basics here!
In spite of executing probably the best pressing game I've seen in this tournament, they never could muster a complete passing move on ball recovery, resorting to the long punt upfield with no prayer of getting the ball.
We can put as rosy a face to it as we want, but our female football and Eucharia Uche (not footballers) was a disgrace out there in Germany!
What she did to Uwak was wrong and Nigeria needs to know why. If not she should not come back new degree or not.
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