Nigeria’s senior national football team, the Super Eagles, had a phenomenal run in the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations 2023 campaign in Cote d’Ivoire. Reaching the final Sunday, February 11 without a single loss along the way, the team would either win or lose as it were. Participating in the championship under a “Let’s do it Again” mantra, they hoped to earn a fourth Africa Cup. The team played three matches at the group stage, winning two and drawing one. It even beat the eventual champions by a goal to nil. The Eagles defeated Cameroon, a former Afcon champion, in the round of 16, brushed aside Angola in the quarters and South Africa, another former titleholder, in the semis. In the final, Nigeria came up against the host whom it defeated in the group stage and lost, respectfully by 2-1. Here, the dream died.
However, like the Apostle Paul, the Super Eagles could say they “fought the good fight, … finished the race and kept” up the indefatigable Nigerian spirit. And the price: a good second place finishing and 4 million dollars. Captain Troost-Ekong was named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament. The ultimate was the the hero’s welcome and a presidential handshake they all received on their return home.
To be sure, the Super Eagles went to Cote d’Ivoire on the back of not too stellar a preparation . Their pre-tournament friendlies against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique ended in drab draws. Just as were their 2026 World Cup qualifiers against lowly Lesotho and match rusty Zimbabwe. They didn’t have a dependable goalkeeper until a Stanley Nwabali showed up from some place in South Africa. So, understandably, there were no great expectations of the Eagles when they departed for Dubai en route Cote d’Ivoire. The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) told the coach, Jose Peseiro, he wasn’t expected to go beyond the semis with the quality of players he had put together. But in the end, he surprised himself and shamed his employer. He took the team to the finals and won the hearts of millions of fans at home and away.
Again, football proved a great unifier in a country in a dire need of unity. Nigerians of every tribe and tongue and socio-economic status got behind the team in a manner never before witnessed. In Abidjan, the Ivorian capital, a slow moving motorcade of Nigerians, in the green-white national team jersey, marched through the streets as Ivorians and other nationals watched open-mouthed. In Cote d’Ivoire, the never-say- die fighting spirit of Nigerians was on show. A team that was already written off even before they left home seemed to be saying we would give you “beauty for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” We pray to see that spirit back home as we confront many of our adversities, ranging from corruption in political high places to mass poverty in the midst of plenty, to banditry and kidnapping. We mustn’t stoop in submission but rise to conquer. It will be more like it.
