Sleeping Giant Finally Awake?

The Super Eagles over the weekend restored some respect and glory to the national team after a convincing 3-1 defeat of the Fennecs of Algeria last Saturday in the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers in Uyo.

Algeria which is one of Africa's in form teams with an attack that is quite formidable prior to the commencement of the World Cup qualifiers were brutally exposed by the rampaging Nigerian attack which counter attacked ruthlessly. A brace for Victor Moses and Chelsea outcast, John Obi Mikel did the trick for Nigeria.

If teams had written Nigeria off as a fallen giant in African football after its failure to qualify for the last and next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON ), this victory over Algeria may be a timely warning that this sleeping giant may be experiencing yet another resurgence.

After the dithering by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in appointing a coach for the Super Eagles after the abrupt resignation of Sunday Oliseh, it appears the NFF have made an astute appointment in the hiring of Gernot Rohr as coach after the ill fated attempt to lure Paul Le Guen.

He has been pragmatic and business like in the management of the squad. A trait which is unsurprising considering where he hails from. These traits have aided in putting Nigeria in pole position to claim the group's sole ticket for the World Cup. 

This is hoping the NFF will consolidate on these early strides made by the German coach by ensuring that they give him all the support he needs to prepare the team for the task ahead. Many that would have watched the team tackle Algeria on Saturday would have noticed that the team is far from being the finished article. There are still lots of work to be done by Rohr if the Super Eagles are to maintain their current position on the table.

August 28, 2017 is when the next round of fixtures is supposed to resume as Nigeria hosts Cameroon. It is an opportunity for the Super Eagles to strengthen their grip on first place if they defeat Cameroon knowing fully well that a sterner test will await them in the return leg. If the Super Eagles can come out with at least 4 points from that fixture, they will be quite confident in sealing their place at the World Cup with a victory against Zambia at home. For Algeria to stand a chance of turning the tables, they would have to win their next 3 games. 

It is still early days yet. August 2017 is a long time. Many things could go wrong between now and then. Key players could lose form, injuries could rule out important members of the squad, or who knows, someone in the NFF could fall out with Rohr or vice versa which could lead to disharmony in camp or even worse, a sacking... Nothing is impossible in this part of the world and so all hands should be on deck until the goal of qualifying is achieved.

Back to the game on Saturday, despite the handsome victory over the Greens of Algeria, there were some areas of key concern for the Super Eagles which Rohr will be looking to sort out quickly if our quest to qualify and actually make a serious impact at the World Cup in Russia is to be realised.

Ikeme Needs Competent Cover

Daniel Akpeyi was called upon to fill in for Carl Ikeme for the game against Algeria after he pulled out of the game due to injury. Akpeyi didn't exactly cover himself in glory as he was a bunch of nerves initially and even though he could do nothing about the goal by Nabil Bentaleb, his positioning was poor. Ikeme made Nigerians abandon their clamour for Vincent Enyeama's return. If something were to happen to Ikeme... Rohr appeared to have been satisfied with Akpeyi's performance. Nigerians will hope he knows something that they don't.

Rohr Is Yet To Solve The Right Back Conundrum 

Kenneth Omeruo played at right back last Saturday and of course he had some anxious moments during the game as he hasn't played there in a long time for the Super Eagles. The problem which the late Stephen Keshi could not solve permanently with Efe Ambrose is still proving a hard nut to crack. Rohr played Wilfred Ndidi in that role in the game against Zambia and now has experimented with Omeruo in this role as well. He wouldn't have been too convinced by his performance.

Nigeria Still Needs A Dependable Striker

Kelechi Iheanacho gave an indifferent performance at best on Saturday and even though he will have better days in a Super Eagles shirt, the fact that the other strikers in the team such as Odion Ighalo and Brown Ideye seem to be wasteful in front of goal should cause some to worry that this profligacy could yet come back to haunt the team in more difficult games and against more resolute defences.

Will Coming Out Actually Improve Gay Footballers Performance?

A couple of days back, former NBA star, John Ameachi stated in a parliamentary hearing on homophobia in sport that Gay  Premier League footballers would perform better if they were to come out. 

He and British race walker, Tom Bosworth told MPs that players would be able to focus on their sport instead of hiding.

According to Bosworth a non-openly gay footballer could not be enjoying life as much as he could have.

Bosworth claimed his performance recorded a significant improvement after  he admitted publicly that he was gay.

Ameachi who insists that he is in contact with gay footballers who are reluctant to come out said that if an individual uses 1% of his energy to stop being who he is it might turn out to be the difference between being good and being great.

The logical question now is, does hiding equate to one who has stopped being who one really is?

A gay footballer might hide his sexual orientation but has that stopped him from being gay? After all, they might be in gay relationships while hiding that fact from the general public.

I think the argument posed by John Ameachi is flawed.

For one, as I have already stated, hiding one's sexual orientation is not the same as stopping oneself from being who one is. It just means that the gay footballer has a life not known by the public.

And to the crux of the matter, will coming out publicly actually have a positive effect on a player's performance levels? That Tom Bosworth's performance results have improved is hardly enough evidence to suggest that all athletes or footballers will have an improvement in their general performance if they came out.

Maybe in the short term, it might lead to some better performances as a burden would have been lifted from the footballer's shoulders. But what happens after the euphoria that comes with the freedom to openly be who one is has worn off?

In football, a bang average footballer usually remains bang average. Revealing a sexual orientation which has nothing to do with a gay player's footballing skills or intelligence is not going to change much contrary to what Ameachi would have us believe.

The highest profile footballer to ever come out, Thomas Hitzlsperger, was not exceptional in his playing days. He although represented Germany 52 times and played for some decent teams like Aston Villa, Stuttgart and Lazio. But if he were playing today, he wouldn't get into the current German squad's midfield. It is unlikely his public admittance to his sexual orientation would have made him better than he was.

Another important thing to note is that human beings have different ways they react to their environment. While people like Bosworth might notice an improvement in their performance, some others might not record any significant change in their performance and of course, there will be others whose performances may start to suffer. The possibility that there might be some negative or indifferent outcome after a player has revealed his sexual orientation does not appear to figure in the views of Ameachi and Bosworth.

Football being a team sport is not as straightforward as athletics where results can determine whether one is improving or not. With the advent of Opta and other sports statistics companies, a player's performance could be evaluated to a large degree but it all depends on what aspect of the player's game is being assessed. 

Not many players can maintain their best form consistently for long periods without a major or minor slump. Reaching a conclusion as to whether an admittance to a sexual preference is responsible for an upturn in performance might be too simplistic.

Does a player need to come out as gay? If it's important to the player and the player feels it might help him then so be it. The question now is, what does he intend to achieve by coming out?