On the 10th of June 2017, the super eagles of Nigeria began their quest to qualify for the 2019 AFCON with a 0:2 defeat to the Bafana Bafana of South Africa at the Godswill Akpabio International stadium, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
That defeat marked Nigeria's first ever lose to South Africa in a competitive football match which coincidentally happened at the Nest of champions. Many things were wrong about that qualifier from the Nigeria perspective and would you be surprised? the Godswill Akpabio International stadium was touted to be a pivotal determining factor to that defeat.
It was a simple language, easily flown about in the mouth of many and surprisingly even in the oratory of professional football analysts and sport journalists: "the Godswill Akpabio international stadium is cursed". This assertion was not unconnected to the aftermath perceived curse belief, after the stadium was renamed in honour of ex governor Godswill Akpabio, whose tenure saw the completion of that project. On the 29th of may 2015 during his swearing-in, governor Udom Emmanuel renamed the stadium as Godswill Akpabio International stadium.
Henceforth, many will attribute everything that went wrong at the stadium to the name; power outage, facility breakdown and others. Hence, the defeat to the eagles, handed them by Bafana Bafana was not a solitary victim.
Until that defeat, it was easily forgotten that the super eagles was yet to taste a defeat at the nest of champions since NFF named it as the base of the super eagles in 2016. This include all Russia 2018 world cup qualifying home games ( Nigeria 1:0 Zambia; Nigeria 4:0 Cameroon; Nigeria 3:1 Algeria). It was also soon forgotten that the perceived curse was a contributive factor if not the major reason why the NFF moved super eagles games from Calabar to Uyo after the country lost 2:3 to Congo in an AFCON 2015 qualifier.
Calabar stadium was believed to be cursed. Many failed to remember too that some years back, Nigeria decided against hosting home games in Kano after a world cup qualifying game against Angola ended 1:1. Nigeria didn't qualify for the world cup. Rather than blame the team, the coach or the administration at the time, Kano was blamed for being too hot. The super eagles had one game in Kaduna in 2016 and it ended 1:1 against Egypt, all but ending our chances of qualifying for the 2017 AFCON.
Recall that game? That game led to Nigeria's fine by CAF for overcrowding. Although the fine seemed fair, many saw reasons to blame the result on the stadium.
Kano Stadium, Kaduna, Calabar stadium, all cursed? What's the assurance that Lagos and probably Port Harcourt stadium won't be cursed soon? I keep wondering in great but negative amazement how superstitious belief crept into football. Who curse stadiums because to the best of my knowledge, football if not sport in its entirety supposed to be clear from the supernatural.
Considering the aftermath of the Nigeria 0:2 South Africa AFCON qualifying match whose result stipulated the perceived curse on the Godswill Akpabio International stadium, what happened to blaming the style of play, the inexperience in players fielded in to execute the game, the use of Iheanacho as CF when he functions better as SS, the shaky goal keeping of Daniel Akpeyi, the poor defence communication between Troost Ekong and Awaziem (this was the first time these two paired together at CB. Leon Balogun was injured so no blaming of Rohr whatsoever), the lost of form of Echiejile, the uninspiring captainship of Onazi, the lack of creativity at the midfield.
In case it wasn't observed, Kelechi Iheanacho, Moses Simon, Ahmed Musa (sub), Victor Oshimen, Kayode Olarenwaju, and even Alex Iwobi didn't register a single shot on target althrough 90mins. Not a single shot on target? What, then, were they doing althrough the game? Should we also dispel that the curse was the spell that muted their game?
Sadly, significant few choose to analyze these facts but majority threw blames on the stadium. Stadium should be blamed for poor pitch of play, lighting and on this note let me remind some who heard of and those who didn't that the announced power cut during that NG vs SA game never happened even after it was announced and mind you that was after the match and not during.
Should we also be remembered of some reported issues involving NFF and clearing match and training balls from CAF before that game? There were backdrops of many technical, factual and realistic factors to throw blames on rather than go superstitious. Just one more, super eagles key players in the likes of John Mikel Obi didn't feature for that game.
Well, as it should be and realistically, this time, the four nil drubbing of Cameroon at the same Godswill Akpabio International stadium surfaced at the right time to completely discredit that perceived curse claims.
Just recently, on the 13th of October 2018, Super Eagles defeated Libya four goals to nothing in the same AFCON qualifier, at the same Akwa Ibom International stadium (as it's now known) at which they lost to South Africa.
The nest of champions offered Nigerians the opportunity to see another National team hat trick hero after about five years of waiting - the last being Nnamdi Oduamadi's hat trick against Tahiti in the 2013 FIFA confederation cup. The Akwa Ibom international stadium became the first home stadium outside Lagos to see a national team player score a hat trick.
Complimentarily, Odion Ighalo became the first Nigerian national team player to score hat trick in a home game played outside Lagos state but the tenth Nigerian to do so in the history of Nigerian national team football. The criticized Ighalo became the sixth Nigerian national team player to score a hat trick at home, others being Buraimoh Abudu, Thompson Usiyen, Segun Odegbami, Rasheed Yekini and Victor Ikpeba.
Again, Ighalo became the seventh national team player to score hat trick in a competitive game, others being Buraimoh Abudu (Nkrumah Cup, 1959), Paul Hamilton (Nkrumah cup, 1963), Segun Odegbami (third all Africa games qualifier, 1978), Rasheed Yekini (Tunisia 1994 cup of nations qualifier, 1993), Victor Ikpeba (AFCON qualifier, 2000), Nnamdi Oduamadi (FIFA confederation cup, 2013).
All flourishing and beautiful memories of Nigeria football resurrected, thanks to the Akwa Ibom International stadium. This brings to mind that Nigeria qualified for the Russia 2018 world cup with a game to spare, all qualifying home matches played in that stadium.
If any stadium should be blamed for the outcome of any football match, one should be more factual, technical and more importantly, real. Poor pitch, type of turf, lighting etc are some corners for blame if stadium should be mentioned. The Akwa Ibom International stadium popularly known as the nest of champions has proven to be a fortress for the super eagles and a nest of champions indeed. It's only creditable and an act of Wisdom to name it as the base of the super eagles.
The sooner all fans, the Nigeria football loving populace and the NFF agree with Gernot Rohr and his team on this, the greater the growth of Nigeria national team football for games played at home.
By Reliable Reliance Udoenyin
Twitter: @reliablerely
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