Not many would have guessed that after just two World Cup qualifying matches in a “Group of Death” that Super Eagles next contender would be trailing by a distant four points. Ahead of Nigeria’s match against Cameroun, former Nigerian international, Paul Okoku, thinks the group is for the national team to conquer Kunle Adewale reports
“No team emerges as champions without being prepared to beat the best. You look at the teams in your group and respect them, but that does not mean that they are not beatable. From my own perspective, I didn’t see any big deal in the teams we were going to play when the draws were made, and you can see, we are in the driver’s seat. As Nigerians, we always believe that when we put on the green-white-green jersey, nobody can beat us,” declared Paul Okoku, former Super eagles player.
Asked if he ever thought at the end of two matches, Nigeria would be leading the group with four points ahead of the next opponent, he said: “In the game of football, anything is possible. Yes, I expected that. I’ve always known us to be a determined side when we have the right coaching crew. And this time around, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, made the right choice of manager and I hope the players maintain the consistency and ride on the moment. They are already taking us to the promised land.”
The defunct National Bank of Lagos FC player however admitted that he had no insight about the present Super Eagles Coach before he was employed.
“I don’t have an idea who the coach was before his appointment as the Super Eagles coach but he has proven to have a very good understanding of African football. He is somebody that is familiar with the terrain,” he said.
With about eight months to the next qualifier game against Cameroun in Uyo, Okoku is charging the NFF to engage the players in quality friendly matches. “They should engage the players, those in Europe would naturally be involved in the European leagues, but the federation should look for a way to engage the home-based players when the Nigerian league is not in progress. They should also play more friendly matches so that the coaches could identify opportunities and correct errors before the match proper and that is the key.”
A number of Super Eagles have impressed Okoku. But Iheanacho would always come first. “I watched him grow under my very nose and he has impressed me the most. The way he is scoring goals at his age is phenomenon,” he noted.
One match Okoku would not forget in a hurry was the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in 1984 against Cameroun, which incidentally was his last game for the country before leaving for the United States to further his education.
“After beating Ghana in the group stage and coming from two goals down to beat Egypt in the semifinal, we felt no team can beat us, so we went into the final game against the Indomitable Lions full of confidence. We played our hearts out during the game but we lost 3-1. The outcome of the game really devastated us and the excitement we had before the match diminished after the game and it took a long time for us to recover. At that time, I just knew it was definitely was my last match for the country.
“However, we set a record with the game. Though, we had won the AFCON earlier in 1980 on home soil, but it was the first time the Green Eagles, as the national team was called then, would be winning the silver. Before then, our best effort had been bronze medals on two occasions,” the St. Finnbar’s College, Lagos graduate noted.
Many football analysts had touted Okoku as the player that would take over the midfield position from the aging Muda Lawal in the national team and probably go on to captain the team. He had other ideas as his education was more paramount to him.
“I was looking in that direction too, no doubt about that. As a young boy, your goal is to continue to grow, but at the same time, I was determine to do some different, academically. While I was playing for Nigeria, I was also thinking about my future too and when the opportunity came and was given a scholarship to further my education in the United States I didn’t have to wait. I realised that the future was more important than the present even though I was living in the present but I also understand I must have to do more academically to position myself to do better things in life better outside football,” he noted.
But when reminded that there were players that combined education with their football career, he said: “If I had made a decision to continue my education in Nigeria, maybe I would have done the same. Segun Odegbami and Adokie Ameseimeka did so, and they remain a real example of what a true footballer should be- combining education with football. I respect them a lot for this. But then, I felt going to study in America would better my life.”
On whether there was any time he was lured to play for America considering his enormous talent, he said, “the opportunities were there, but at that time, I was still very leering about becoming an American citizen, because I realise I had done so much for Nigeria, so the thought of switching nationality was not just there.”
Okoku is not somebody that regrets his decisions, so when asked whether he regretted not playing for Nigeria at the World Cup, he didn’t see it as a big deal.
“I actually did appear at the U-21 World Cup in 1983 in Mexico. I will always equate the U-21 competition to the Mundial. It’s just the age that made the difference, so I don’t consider it as a setback. The likes of Dunga, Romario Farai, Marco van Basten and many great players that later dominated world football played at that 83 Junior World Cup. So, I had played at the world stage. I have no remorse at all, I don’t regret not playing at the senior World Cup and I don’t look back and say ‘I should have stayed longer in Nigeria to play at the World Cup. No.’
“As a matter of fact, during the 1994 World Cup in the United States whenever Nigeria was playing I was the host to my friends and always entertaining Nigerians. My house was the hub to most Nigerians but I never looked back, I never wish I was playing because I was happy with my life. You don’t live a life of regret. You should rather concentrate on your living today while you are planning for the future. There are many people that played at the World Cup, but today, when they look back, they say ‘I wish I had done something different.’ They probably would have wished to position themselves and have something to fall back on after retirement. I have no regret whatsoever,” remarked Okoku, who is a business analyst with Fortune 500 in the United States.
What however is painful to Okoku is the non-fulfillment of the scholarship promised the 1983 World Cup team.
“We, the 1983 set of Flying Eagles players have been calling on the federal government to honour the promised scholarship the then president of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s government, made to us in 1983 after qualifying Nigeria for her first ever FIFA-organised tournament.
Many of our teammates are in despair, struggling to make ends meet financially. We have lost four of our teammates, Ali Jeje, Chris Anigala, Tarfa Kpako and Wilfred Agbonavbare. Our two coaches are not left out too, as both Chris Udemezue and Isiaka Yakubu are of blessed memory. How many more will have to die from our set without enjoying the fruit of their labour?” Okoku asked.
