A former member of the Canada 87 Golden Eaglets and Saudi 89 Flying Eagles squads, Anthony Emoedefu, in an exclusive interview with the VoiceSports’ Terfa Alaghga in Benin, Edo State of Nigeria, said Chief MKO Abiola of blessed memory encouraged their performance at the Saudi 89 Junior World Cup and that Nigerian players of today, lack the fighting spirit. He also spoke on other issues.
Excerpts:
VoiceSports: How did you gain the opportunity to play in the Golden Eaglets team?
Emoedefu: The opportunity came when I was playing in the Youth team, representing Bendel State (now Edo State) in the Manu Adebajo Cup. In those days, we had so many Youth Football Championships like the Manu Adebajo Cup, Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria Cup (YSFON), Schools Sports, the Academicals etc, most of which no longer exist today.
VoiceSports: In which of the tourneys were you spotted?
Emoedefu: I was spotted at the National Sports Festival (NSF), where our state won the coveted trophy in football at the tournament. It was from there that I was invited to the Golden Eaglets’ camp, in 1985.
VoiceSports: Can you recall some of your teammates at the NSF?
Emoedefu: Very well. Baldwin Bazuaye, Victor Igbonoba, the late Kingsley Igbinobaro, Lucky Agbonsevbafe, Hilary Adike and myself, joined some World Cup Stars. After we played and won the Kodak U-16 World Cup in 1985, in China, we were all moved straight to the National Camp in Lagos, and there we met about sixty players who were also invited across the country.
VoiceSports: For how long did you stay in the national camp before you started training with the team?
Emoedefu: I stayed in the camp for almost four months without trials but as God would have it, a football match was organised against the Railway FC of Lagos, I was featured and behold, I scored two goals in that match. That was when my name was pencilled down among those who would remain in the camp.
VoiceSports: Who were the coaches handling the team at that time?
Emoedefu: Coaches Paul Hamilton, Ganiyu Salami and Chris Odumezue. They were in charge of both the national U-17 and the U-20 teams.
VoiceSports: In which of these two National Teams would you say you played for and recorded a remarkable incident which still remains fresh in your memory?
Emoedefu: It was the U-21 team (Flying Eagles) and that was in the quarter-finals football match against the USSR at the Saudi 89 Junior World Cup. We were 0-4 goals down in the first half of the game but eventually, we came behind to level up scores and went ahead to triumph over the team.
VoiceSports: What in your view, would you say was the magic behind the unexpected victory over the USSR squad?
Emoedefu: Hard work, commitment, dedication and determination. Sometimes when I sit down and begin to recall how much of the zeal and enthusiasm we had during our play days and what is witnessed today, I am tempted to say that the players of today, really lack the fighting spirit. During our time, we understood that team work and team spirit were very important especially when a team was playing together but that is lacking in our players of today.
VoiceSports: Could that be the reason you lads rose from 0-4 to equalise and then triumph over the USSR team?
Emoedefu: Why not my brother, Terfa. When we were four goals down, both the players who were playing in the field and the ones sitting on the bench were still confident that at the end of the day, victory would be ours because we noticed that we were doing the playing while our opponents were doing the scoring. At half time, we all went to the Dressing Room where we began asking ourselves, “what are we going to do now that we don’t have a coach to guide us just because we are losing”?
VoiceSports: I don’t understand, you mean the coaches left you because you were losing to the USSR team?
Emoedefu: Yes, the coaches left us to our fate. We called ourselves together and said, “gentlemen let us go and play our hearts. It would be better for us to go there and die for the promises made us by the late Chief MKO Abiola and also that every Nigerian was counting on us and as well waiting patiently with high hopes to witness the outcome of the match. We said our name too was at stake.
VoiceSports: What did the late MKO Abiola promise you?
Emoedefu: When we went to the Dressing Room at half-time, the late Chief, Abiola joined us and after we exchanged pleasantries, he calmly said, “gentleman, 0-4 is not a good result at all but if you can score at least two goals, it would be better than losing 0-4 to USSR”. To our amazement, he dipped hand inside the “Agbada” pocket that he was wearing and brought out a huge sum of money in Pounds and he immediately started giving to all of us, after which he promised that if we win the match, he would do more for us. This was a morale booster for us and for also seeing Chief Abiola among us, talking to us, giving us money and also promising that he would do more for us, we became so encouraged by the kind gesture which he demonstrated. In fact, Chief MKO Abiola encouraged our performance at the Saudi 89 World Cup and when we returned into the second half of the game, we were not only playing like wounded lions but we were also devouring our opponents, the USSR team. We equalised the game 4-4, went into penalty shootouts and we eventually won the match.
VoiceSports: How did you lads feel when you won the match?
Emoedefu: We all felt on top of the world. I personally could not believe it because I had played in the Golden Eaglets team before I graduated to the Flying Eagles team, and throughout my playing career, I had never gone through such a hurdle. I want to tell you that no country in the world has ever created such a record in the World Cup. I stand to be corrected.
VoiceSports: Did Chief MKO Abiola keep his promise to you at all?
Emoedefu: The late Chief Abiola was a wonderful man and we couldn’t believe such men existed in the Nigerian setting. He was overwhelmed with joy just as Nigerians and other countries that were fans of the Nigerian team. He did even more than what he had promised to do for us if we won the match against the USSR. I hope you have not forgotten that we won Silver in Saudi 89 Junior World Cup after we lost in the final.
VoiceSports: Why did you stop playing active football at a youthful age?
Emoedefu: First and foremost, it was due to the appointment of the wrong football administration for their selfish interests. Secondly, I was not willing and ready to continue playing for anybody, considering the way and manner in which they were running football in Nigeria.
VoiceSports: In essence, what are you saying?
Emoedefu: Imagine you sign a contract to play for a football club and at the end of the day, the contract is breached and when you talk, they say you are stubborn or an indisciplined player, and they begin using wrong language on you. This inhumane attitude did not augur well with me as a player. You cannot expect me to play a whole season for such a club, where my sign-on-fee and salary payments are alternating while members of the management team are busy enjoying themselves and then I continue to do the dirty job? No, it won’t work. And in order for me not to begin trading words with anybody, I decided to quit active football for good, to retain my reputation.
VoiceSports: Is there any difference between the kind of football played in your time and the one played today?
Emoedefu: There is a very big difference. We were playing with the passion that we had for the game, to make name and reputation but these days, these boys are simply playing for money. That is why they are getting it wrong and we are also finding it very difficult to assemble a formidable team for Nigeria. Our players of today, ones they know how to jug the ball, they assume they can play football and they go out there to begin playing rubbish because they want to make money. During our time if you were playing good football and you see people praising you, you were very okay even if you didn’t receive anything from them in return. That is why now as a coach, I find it very difficult to start training a player on how to jug , chest, trap and control the ball. The same player who will be telling you that he wants to go and play professional football in Europe and also sign for a big time club. How is that possible?
VoiceSports: Are you a certificated coach?
Emoedefu: Yes I am and I have had the opportunity of coaching a club for eight years. A club that I nurtured from the Amateur to the Nigerian National League (NNL), the Dynamite FC of Benin. I have played them in seven state FA Cup finals and won three. Today, I can beat my chest and say I played football to the top level and also ended up as a coach. I can equally tell you for free that the coaches too are finding it very difficult in selecting good players.
VoiceSports: Is that what is affecting the national team?
Emoedefu: I strongly believe so because these days you see a player colour his hair black on the other side, red on the other side, flying his jersey during a match and at the end of the day, he receives big money from the club he plays for. That is what we never did and it is affecting our national team seriously. At that time, we had big boys like Stephen Keshi and others who were playing professional football abroad but were not always invited to the national team because it was made up of purely the local players who were coming from teams like the Bendel insurance FC of Benin, BCC Lions FC of Gboko, ACB FC of Lagos, Leventis United FC of Ibadan, Rangers Int’l FC of Enugu etc, and parading almost five to seven players each in the national camp who were also doing very well. Now it is a different ball game entirely. That is the reason it will be impossible to have local players dominating the national camp now. You can also imagine a club Chairman, directing a coach on what to do on the pitch with players. A coach suspends a player for act of indiscipline and a club Chairman rescinds the coach’s decision, why?
VoiceSports: What is your advice for the government, on how to develop football in Nigeria?
Emoedefu: I will advise the government, to forget about the politicians, to stop playing politics with football and to give those who played football the opportunity to run football and also the free hands to do it. We have great footballers in this country who are retired and can do the job very well but because they don’t have anybody in the government, they are not remembered. Football is supposed to be an independent body outside the government. These people have played football, suffered for it and all that the government needs to do is to assist them, stay clear and allow them do their job, and stop using politicians to run football so that the right thing will be done.
VoiceSports: Subsequent U-21 teams are not as strong as it was in your time, what would you say is the reason for that?
Emoedefu: Just as I said earlier in this interview, it is the lack of good football management. I can authoritatively fault the fire brigade approach for preparations for tournaments because they don’t want to spend money rather, they prefer to keep it for themselves because of greed. We stayed in the U- 17 camp for one year and six months and did not go home, let alone had anything to do with women. With this level of self-control, eleven of us were graduated to the U – 21 team.
VoiceSports: Could you mention their names?
Emoedefu: Why not. The late Lemmy Isah, Nduka Ugbade, the late Peter Ogaba, Bawa Abdullahi, Oladunmi Oyekale, Dimeji Lawal, Christopher Nwosu, to mention but a few. The spirit of togetherness was among us even as local players. Today, how many local players make the national team? The simple interpretation of this is that football in our country is not productive.
VoiceSports: Are you saying the foreign based players are more preferred for the national team?
Emoedefu: Even for our foreign based players, how many of them are regular players in their various clubs abroad? Let us just be honest to ourselves, a regular player in the Nigerian League, and a foreign based player who for one or two years is warming the bench in his club, who is better? But at the end of the day, he is invited because he is playing Professional Football abroad.
VoiceSports: Can you in one sentence, advise Nigerian football administrators?
Emoedefu: Let our football be restructured if not, it is stinking.
