Can Super Eagles decline be stopped?

Back in time, a few years before the new millennium we heard warnings from football superpowers such as Brazil, Italy or Germany.

The warnings were actually quite positive to us, since they brought attention to the rising power of African national teams taking over football within the next decade.

The warnings were suggesting that in the new millennium will be countries such as Nigeria or Senegal a regular finalist in World cups and other significant competitions.

Despite the football predictions, Today we see a completely different image.The World cup 2022 in Qatar is yet another one without the Super Eagles.

We see some decent performance from Senegal, but the points are being taken by the Dutch. We have expectations from Ghana or Cameroon but to be honest, any significant success would be labelled as surprise. The question now is. Where did Africa go wrong? Why are the football predictions from the last century wrong? Can we make a difference and turn the “luck” in our favour?

Super Eagles in 2022 on a downhill spiral

Yes, there is a reason for writing this article and it is the poor results of Super Eagles in 2022. The poor results are actually not quite obvious when we only consider the African countries, but let’s look at intercontinental confrontations. There hasn’t been a single intercontinental match that Super Eagles won in 2022. Let’s look at some of them in more detail.

Mexico vs Nigeria – May 29 2022

Final score 2:1, Ball possession 60:40, Total shots 9:10, Dangerous attacks 32:15. Yes, Mexico is a strong opponent, but Super Eagles were supposed to be at least there – if not further.

Ecuador vs Nigeria – June 03 2022

Final score 1:0, Ball possession 54:46, Total shots 5:2, Shots on goal 3:4. Ecuador is not a decent team and Nigeria was better in many ways. But hey, the end result counts.

Costa Rica vs Nigeria – November 10 2022

Final score 2:0, Ball possession 62:38, Corners 7:2. Costa Rica isn’t any better compared to Ecuador, yet we still didn’t manage to play our game.

Portugal vs Nigeria November 17 2022

Final score 4:0, Ball possession 61:39, Total shots 11:3. Many consider the Portuguese national team to be one of the best in the entire world. I am not one of those who get fooled easily and to me Ronaldo isn’t a superstar anymore. This match is the perfect feedback. 

The way out?

There are different factors to the decline of the Super Eagles, but one reason stands out.

And that is giving invitation to players who should have no part in the national at the expense of hungry and active players.

Also, it is important for the players to know they are not untouchable, and that all the spots are up for grabs.

Let’s look into the mirror and start working hard again. We trust you, guys.