Ladi Babalola
Long gone are the days when Nigerian players attracted interest from top European clubs.
Ladi Babalola wishes he could help fix
the problems which have made Nigerian players just not good enough to
play for big European clubs.
The former Nigeria midfielder is really
not happy about the exodus of Nigerian players to less fancied European
and Asian leagues – and wants the Nigeria Football Federation to take
the development of the domestic league seriously.
Following administrative and economic issues bedeviling the domestic league, players leave Nigeria weekly for foreign shores in search of greener pastures.
Out of desperation to play professional
football, some of the footballers have ended up in places like Romania,
Israel, Bangladesh, India, Bulgaria, Yemen, Albania, Thailand, Malta,
Sri Lanka, Ukraine, China, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.
In the eighties and nineties, the crème
la crème of the Super Eagles did not only ply their trade in Europe’s
mainstream, but got regular playing time under their belts.
Nwankwo Kanu won the UEFA Champions
League with Ajax in 1995. He joined Italian giants Inter Milan the
following year. After three seasons at the San Siro, Arsenal signed him
and he won loads of trophies with the Premier League side. Taribo West
was a first-team regular at both Inter Milan and AC Milan.
Sunday Oliseh played for Ajax, Juventus
and Borussia Dortmund. Austin Okocha played for Paris Saint-Germain.
Tunisia ’94 Africa Cup of Nations hero Emmanuel Amuneke played for
Sporting Lisbon and Barcelona. Victor Ikpeba donned the colours of
Monaco and Borussia Dortmund. Finidi George won the 1995 UEFA Champions
League alongside Kanu at Ajax. Celestine Babayaro played for Chelsea.
Gbenga Okunowo was signed by Barcelona from Shooting Stars in 1998.
French giants Marseille signed Taye
Taiwo in 2005 after 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winner Bixente Lizarazu
dumped them for German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
Taiwo won the UEFA Intertoto Cup (2005),
Ligue 1 in 2010 and the French League Cup (2010, 2011) playing
first-team football for six years at Stade Velodrome. He joined AC Milan
in 2013, but failed to break into the main team .
Babalola expressed concern that the
country currently boasts Mikel Obi and Elderson Echiejile as the only
Nigerians playing for big clubs.
The former Julius Berger star laments the two Super Eagles players are not commanding regular first-team football in the clubs.
Mikel has fallen further down the
pecking order at Chelsea after the arrival of Nemanja Matic at Stamford
Bridge from Benfica last year.
Echiejile has been forced to play second
fiddle to on-form Layvin Kurzawa at Monaco. The Red and Whites boss
Leonardo Jardim has started the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winner in 12
games this season against Frenchman Kurzawa’s 20.
Balalola insists poor coaching is the
reason behind the Super Eagles dire performances in tournaments – and
the reason why Nigerian players are not considered good enough to play
for big European teams.
Babalola, who is the manager of
Bangladesh Premier League outfit Feni Soccer Club, insists the majority
of coaches in the Nigerian Premier League are far behind the times.
“Most
of the coaches need to update themselves because football is not
stagnant. It’s moving forward,” the 46-year-old, who represented Nigeria
at the SCSA Cup in Liberia in 1987, told our correspondent on the
telephone from Bangladesh during the week.
“Many of our coaches are old and
outdated. Our league will never develop. If you attend a coaching
course in Europe, you will realise that we play flat football in
Nigeria. The coaching methods in the league are wrong.
“We are not producing quality players
because the coaching methods are outdated. The players don’t develop
well. And big clubs don’t sign low quality players.”
He added, “(In Europe) they teach you
how to play football. You will discover that you were not taught most
things in the game while you were playing the game.
“The old coaches should not be sacked.
They earn a living from coaching, but they need to update themselves
because they are killing our players.
“There are many seminars in Europe that
can help them. The Nigeria Football Federation can invite coaches from
Europe to help them. There are many FIFA seminars that the coaches can
benefit from.”
Babalola urged the government to return
to grassroots football to enable the country to get quality players for
the national teams.
He said coaches and administrators who
keep up with the times should be saddled with the responsibility of
nurturing the young players discovered at grassroots tournaments.
“The system in our country is corrupt.
To make the Eagles a strong team we should go back to the grassroots,”
Babalola, who represented Nigeria at the Chile ’87 FIFA Under-20 World
Cup, said.
“I was discovered at the Principal’s
Cup. Many clubs wanted me. Stationery Stores, Julius Berger and Shooting
Stars were among the clubs that wanted me. They sent people to me when I
was taking my WASSCE. I later settled for Airways Club.
“With a better grassroots structure, we can produce quality players again.”
The former Finland-based player launched
a scathing attack on ex-internationals who pester the NFF for jobs,
saying they should take up coaching jobs with clubs.
“The system of appointing coaches for
the national team is too corrupt,” Babalola, whose contract at Spanish
La Liga side Levante (then in the second division) was cancelled
following a career-threatening injury in 1997, said.
“That’s why ex-internationals are always hanging around football federation office for jobs.
“I can’t beg or bribe anyone to coach
the national team. I’m not happy that some ex-internationals hang around
the NFF secretariat begging to coach the national team.
“Ex-internationals shouldn’t be lobbying
for jobs. Look at Stephen Keshi. Having achieved what he achieved, he
should have moved on.
“Shaibu Amodu spent most of his time running after the national team job.
“I can’t beg anyone, because I believe national team coaches should be picked on merit.”
He added, “The national team coach and
his assistants should emerge from the clubs. A coach should be
considered for the job if his team is playing good football and he’s
winning.”
Babalola lamented the poor state of the
Nigerian league and called on the NFF to address the problems hindering
the progress of the competition.
He says many Nigerian players are stranded in parts of Europe and Asia after falling victims to fake agents.
The former Brothers Union (of
Bangladesh) manager said he had helped many Nigerian players in
Bangladesh and Finland, who were duped by fake agents.
He said, “Eighty per cent of Nigerian
players who leave the country for professional football are stranded in
all parts of the world.
“I rescued seven players when I was coaching in Finland. In Bangladesh I have 13 Nigerian players living with me.
“Our players are not well-developed before going out. They are not good enough because they lack the rudiments of the game.
“Many European and Asian countries don’t want Nigerian players because they are not good.
“The moment you say you are a Nigerian,
you are not wanted. They are not good enough because they are not ripe
enough before leaving Nigeria. They now want Ivorian, Ghanaian and
Cameroonian players.
“I read on the Internet that league players are being owed by their clubs. It’s sad to read stories like that on the Internet.”
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