A member of Nigeria’s winning team at the 1993 FIFA U17 World Cup in Japan, Festus Odini has blamed the country’s recent failures in youth football on coaches not using the right language of the game.
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With reference to the under-20 national team, Flying Eagles’ recent inability to scale through the group stage of the Aftican Games in Ghana, Odini insinuated that Nigerian coaches often adopt a wrong approach.
The fair-skinned petit former striker, who is now in the coaching crew of Smart FC of Lagos, further pointed out that the language of football must be approached to the letter in order for any team to get good results.
The velvety star stated as much while basking in the delight of his side’s victory over Ikorodu City FC in this year’s Jagaban Cup at Mobalaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos.
He gave kudos to his players for picking their chances and getting it right on the day, which he stressed is what makes all the difference in football matches.
He hinted that it would have been a similar story for the Flying Eagles in Accra, had they been able to speak the right language of the round leather game.
The soft-spoken legend, who grew up in the Ketu area of Lagos, added: “It was a good game for us against Ikorodu City. Both teams gave a good account of themselves, but we had our chances, and we took them.
“That made a world of difference for us. In football, you should create chances and use them. We had good chances and we played more positively. At the end of the day, we were the winners.
“This is something that our under-20 team could not do at the African Games in Ghana. It’s a shame that the current youth teams from Nigeria are struggling.
“It’s a shame. It shows we are not getting it right; we have to go back. see where we are getting it wrong and make corrections. That’s the only way.
“There’s still time for us to make corrections. We have talents in this country, a lot of talents. So, we should keep winning instead of losing.
“I urge the people that are in charge of football to buckle up and do the right thing. We can go back to our past glory in under-17, under 20, and under-23 as well. This is still Nigeria. We still have the talents.
“All we have to do is just get it right. You know, football has its own language. If you do anything contrary to that, you will get it wrong. Let’s go back and speak the language of football.”
