There is no getting around it now.
Stephen Keshi’s cycle as coach of the
Super Eagles has surely come to an end.
There is no anger, there is no bitterness.
There is just… nothing. The final whistle
in Khartoum was a knell that rung hollow in Nigerian hearts. When Keshi became the trustee of
Nigeria’s footballing hopes and dreams,
the day was bleak. The Big Boss
overhauled a team that had failed to
qualify for the 2012 Cup of Nations,
installing youth and injecting vitality. A policy of openness saw the likes of
Ogenyi Onazi, Kenneth Omeruo, Godfrey
Oboabona and Sunday Mba carve out a
niche for themselves in the Super Eagles
team. The danger with success though,
especially when unexpected, is that it
can cause the subject to parody himself.
The fact that anyone could play for
Nigeria, a boon and motivation for
players to work hard, became in the long run a tremendous problem.
Needing a game-changing impact in the
Municipal Stadium, the ineffectual
Gbolahan Salami was withdrawn and
on came Sunday Emmanuel from little-
known Austrian side Grodig, making his debut for the national team. Keshi has gambled on his popularity
many times and won. This time, it has
come back to bite him. His arrogant
dismissal of the form of Obafemi
Martins, for example, who has hit the
15-goal mark in Major League Soccer, was laughable. Age can only mitigate
against ability when there are credible
alternatives. Alas in the same breath,
the Afcon-winning manager dismissed
another possible option: the
prodigiously-talented Kelechi Iheanacho.

His constant bickering with Ikechukwu
Uche in the press has gotten
embarrassing very quickly, like a public
and messy break-up between lovers.
While it is unclear which of them is
speaking the truth, it is telling that Keshi only got tough with Uche after
triumphing in the Afcon in 2013. Before
then, there had been little indication of
any sort of rift between them, and
indeed the Villarreal man top-scored to
qualify the Super Eagles for the tournament in the first place. It is almost as though that historic
moment convinced the former Afcon-
winning captain of the infallibility of his
methods. In his hubris, he has ploughed
onward on that course, alienating many
and dividing opinions everywhere. Now, we are back where we started:
with one point from their first three
games, the defending African
champions are on the verge of
elimination. Then, as if to prove himself beyond
saving, Keshi picked the same ten
outfield players for the must-win
encounter with Sudan who had
struggled for any rhythm or cohesion in
the last qualifier against South Africa. On that day, Bafana Bafana did not
have their scoring boots on. Sudan
were in no mood to pass up such an
offering though, and took the lead
three minutes before the break through
Al Hilal forward Abdi Babeker Bakri, who stole ahead of Efe Ambrose to
power home a header. Bakri had a tremendous game for
Sudan, getting behind Ambrose time
and again in the first half to receive the
ball over the top. Nosa Igiebor, who
spent large periods playing pushed up
into the attacking line, prevented the midfield from being able to close down
efficiently enough. Ogenyi Onazi was
typically industrious, and John Obi Mikel
pressed forward sporadically, but the
ability of the Sudanese wingers to come
inside and occupy the space between the lines was a strong enough
deterrent. Igiebor was the poorest player on the
pitch, and as the game went on,
epitomised the team’s display: lacking
in belief and inspiration. Keshi’s
strength lies in coaching mentality
rather than tactics, but it appears that even this has been lost. There was no
rally, no barrage, just meek surrender. The Falcons of Jediane were not great;
they did not need to be. Defensively
their positioning was very naïve and
disorganised. But when you play a
team 100 places above you in the FIFA
rankings and still manage to produce the one moment of true quality in 90
minutes, you are fully deserving of
whatever credit you get. Sudan’s genius
was in bringing the African champions
down to their level, and for this alone,
their win was richly deserved. It is unclear what to do with Keshi now.
He is not under any contract or
obligation to the NFF, and can rightly
board a plane straight to the USA,
where his family resides. There is
however a return fixture in four days, and one which the Super Eagles
absolutely must win. Does the NFF
officially relieve him, and seek to,
improbably, get a new coach within
four days? Or do they stick with him
and possibly damn the Super Eagles? Whichever choice is made, Nigeria do
not get a good deal. In Pointe-Noire, South Africa showed
the daring and swagger befitting
champions as they swatted aside the
Republic of Congo to move into top
spot in Group A. It is a result that
Nigeria must replicate if they are to have any chance at all of playing in
Morocco next year. There is no more
margin for error, and whoever takes
the national team forward must get it
right, and do so fast.

Somewhere in Nigeria, Amodu Shuaibu
is rubbing his hands and waiting for his
phone to ring. It would take a brave
man to bet against him now.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2014/10/12/5178192/sudan-defeat-signals-end-for-keshi

Amodu Shuaibu? Well, the man has pulled some chestnuts out of the fire for us in the past. But how did we reward him? With the same kind of ridicule Keshi endures today. We are watching keenly.