Senegal’s victory proves that patience could open closed doors

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By: Kevin Omachonu

The Africa Cup of Nations was concluded last week, with the Teranga Lions of Senegal clinching the title – their first ever.

The African showpiece started very slow, with Cameroon’s opener being the only game to record more than one goal in the first round of group stage games. But what the teams could not offer in front of goal, they made up for it with the reckless tackles they dished out generously.

The referees also chipped in their own two cents, as the acts of “Legendary” umpire Janny Sikazwe, who ended a game before the 90th minute, will not be readily forgotten.

Nonetheless, the tournament picked up in the second round of games, and it was not a surprise, as most teams knew that they had to score to advance to the knockout stages.

Despite a day one loss to Nigeria, Egypt kept their heads up, beating Ivory Coast, Morocco and Cameroon to secure a final spot. Senegal, who were underwhelming in the group stage, brought their A-game in the knockout stages, comfortably seeing off Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, and  Equatorial Guinea.

In the end, Senegal emerged champions of Africa for the very first time after a tense game against the Pharaohs.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria did not win the AFCON, but they gave their fans some things to cheer about, as the three-time Champions were the best team from the group stage. They were the only team that won all three of their games in the group stage. Unfortunately, their wings were clipped by a depleted Tunisian side.

However, the team could be pardoned, as Augustine Eguavoen, who took over the team from former German tactician Gernot Rohr had spent only a week with most members of the team. Despite his failure to lead the team to gold, there were still positives.

But in the usual fashion with Nigerian fans, most of them cried and bellowed for the Nigeria Football Federation to sack him. But sacking Eguavoen may not be the answer to our footballing woes, and a look at the Senegalese model should give a solid back-up for that claim.

Senegal employed coach Aliou Cisse who was one of their most prominent players during his days to lead the team in 2015.

Before he ascended the throne as coach of the Teranga Lions, Cisse had been coach of the Under-23’s for two years. The 45-year-old had never coached anywhere, so the U-23 job gave him the opportunity to learn the ropes.

Upon his appointment, Cisse’s first assignment was to lead Senegal to the 2017 AFCON in Gabon. Unfortunately, he and his team were booted out in the quarter-finals.

At the 2018 World Cup, Cisse was very unlucky, as Senegal were eliminated in the group stage by fairplay tie-breaker rules. Fast forward to 2019, Senegal were dominant in most of their games at the 2019 Nations Cup, but they lost painfully to Algeria in the final.

This year it all aligned for him, as he guided his lads to his first Silverware after eight years and Senegal’s first-ever major senior trophy.

Eight solid years of patience gave Senegal the desired result. But aside from patience, the belief that a local coach could do the job also paid off. And this is a sharp contrast to what is obtainable in Nigeria.

Over the years, the NFF have shown, time and time over, that they have no belief whatsoever in homegrown coaches. They would instead pitch their tents with foreign coaches. Eguavoen got the job, albeit on an interim basis, to take Nigeria to the Nations Cup. However, days before the competition started, the NFF named a certain Jose Peseiro to take over from Eguavoen after the Nations Cup. Asides from the yappings of the NFF President that Peseiro was “recommended” by Jose Mourinho, the Portuguese manager, is a specialist in failure. His nomadic career with zero major trophies is enough proof of that.

The NFF chose him over Eguavoen, who led Nigeria to a bronze finish in the 2006 Nations Cup. Also, there is the underappreciated Emmanuel Amuneke, who won the 2015 U-17 World Cup for Nigeria, giving rise to the likes of Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze.

When Rohr was coach of the Super Eagles, he was given a fat salary, and he was also given time. But asides from his lack of Silverware, the team’s playing was nothing to write about. The team struggled to string passes together, not to even talk of scoring goals. But under Eguavoen, the team changed drastically. The players played with hunger, and their style of play was well defined. 

The loss to Tunisia in the round of 16 was due to his inability to match the tactics put out by the Tunisians, but if he had spent more time with the team, that would not have been the story.

Recently, the NFF confirmed that Eguavoen would continue to lead the team on an interim basis, but it would have been better if they decided to give him the job on the long term. Keshi won the AFCON in 2013, and it means that another Nigerian can replicate that feat, but patience would be essential.

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