Guys just play your game ‘nothing do you for Lagos’

 

Nigeria and Nigerians are very lucky. You may even say they are very unique. No matter how hot the kitchen happens to be they will have a way of surviving. This has equally rubbed off in sports where the country sometimes fumbles and wobbles and still gets the job down somehow.

The Eagles take on Crocodiles of Lesotho in the last group game of the 2021 AFCON qualifiers at the Teslim Balogun Stadium today at 5pm.

It is not as if there is a big deal about this match after all the Eagles qualified even before kick off in their match against Squirrels of Benin Republic.

Lesotho and Sierra Leone who are other members of the group had locked horns earlier on Saturday and settled for a goalless draw.  The result which filtered into Poto Novo even before Eagles match started of course confirmed Eagles qualification for the Continental show piece with two matches to spare. Did I hear you say on a platter?

Anyway the boys went on thanks to Paul Onuachu’s 93rd minutes strike to win the match by a lone goal to further consolidate position at the top of the group.

So today’s tie against Lesotho is just to honour the fixtures and if you like fulfill all righteousness. However there is something unique about the match today.

The Super Eagles playing in Lagos after a long absence.   There is a Lagosphobia that has kept the boys away from Lagos so the Nest of Champions Uyo, Port Harcourt and Asaba have since become regular venues for the Super Eagles.

But what is really wrong with Lagos? The National Stadium is in a state of decay and perhaps ‘let’s say under renovation’, but Teslim has always been there and would have served if the desire to play in Lagos was strong enough.

The reason for the phobia really is Lagos fans, their passion, their desire for results and even their ‘over sabi’ level of understanding and followership of the game.

They have seen players in the past who had proved themselves. They have seen, watched and listened to the late Ernest Okonkwo nickname so many players according to their unique way of playing, they can identify practically every player and know what to expect from them from the past up to even the era of Jay Jay Okocha.

Even the present crop of players are watched and monitored at their clubs and some die-hard fans in Lagos can attach certain capacity and capability to the players.

So the Lagos fan has grown to be impatient. He assumes you know what to do, have your playing pattern and should follow it without delay. He hands you a few minutes to display what you have got. When the time allotted rolls past and you have not done the needful, be becomes agitated.

So when you play for the national team all you need to do is play your game and be yourself.

Don’t come to Lagos and attempt to imitate someone else.

Don’t for instance take on four or five players at a time like typical Okocha will do if you are not capable of displacing them with ease while still with the ball.

Once you do that one or two times and loose the ball in the process they immediately begin to query your identity.

It is common to hear ‘tani eleyi (who is this? )  As if they don’t know your name, funny.

So luckily for Gernot Rohr and the Eagles, there is nothing at stake in today’s match.

So one can only say to the boys, just play your game and enjoy Lagos and like they say these days of social media “ nothing do you”