WHAT a week this has been. The 'new' Super Eagles, under the tutelage of the Big Boss Stephen Keshi, played their second match in one week, and what a contrast both matches were.The first against African Cup of Nations debutants, Botswana, kept Nigerians in suspense and in expectation of a goal that never came till the match ended. Yet, it was considered a good match. It was comforting to see the team work extremely hard, create wave after wave of goal scoring chances.Unfortunately, the team could not convert any and score a goal. What was different in the match is the determination boldly written on the faces of the Nigerian players given another chance to redeem their image. This was apparent in how they ran and ran and ran for 90 minutes trying to make a positive impression.It worked. Under the circumstances of the times, the drawn match, even against a weak opposition, was as good as a victory as soon as the players showed commitment, which they did.Following in the wake of the disastrous match against Guinea some weeks ago, the same Eagles were cheered by an appreciative audience in the ancient city of Benin. It was not surprising, however, that in spite of the short time Keshi had to tinker with the team, he still had to work with almost the same set of players that Nigerians have known and seen since Samson Siasia took over the national team.The NFF brought back even those considered to be renegades by Siasia and gave them another opportunity in the team to be tested.I was not surprised to hear one of them, goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, describe Stephen Keshi as an excellent manager of players. All Keshi did with the team, made up largely of the same set of players that have been assembled since Siasia took over, was work on their psyche, instil in them confidence, and charge them not to let themselves down, and to 'fight' for their country.The idea to play the first match against a relatively weaker team, far away from Abuja, before an audience that had been starved for years of football at this level was brilliant. There was to be very little risk of the expected happening, and Nigeria losing. No, there was not going to be an upset.That Botswana qualified for the Nations Cup and Nigeria did not is not a reflection of the strengths of both teams. The match confirmed it. It could have gone on for one year and Nigeria would not have lost the game.A few days later, it was a different picture. Against an obviously stronger opposition, the Eagles found the going a lot tougher. Unfortunately, in a match played in another part of the country before an audience also eager to see the national team after a period of national team football famine, the Eagles fell back to their old ways, played rather poorly but won the match with two spirit-lifting goals scored by the Uche brothers in their first match together in over one year or so.The Zambians were a very difficult and more organised team. The second match muted the celebrations of the first, brought consolation to many that had hoped the Eagles could somehow find their scoring and winning form again, and obviously brought back the reality of the quality of players in the national team.To go far and return to the apex of African football at least, Keshi has to make some drastic changes in the team's composition. He himself admitted it.A few days ago, in an interview, he revealed the workings of his mind. He said that the teams he used in both matches should not be considered his own idea of a new Super Eagles. He inherited them. He did not assemble them. He only tried his best to make something out of the players he met on ground within the short space of the few days he had.After reviewing the matches he said several of the players in the national team will not be recalled again because they are just not good enough for his dream team.Stephen Keshi is saying and doing the right things. So far, he is making Nigerians to appreciate that he knows his subject very well. To the delight of many people he has also been quoted to have said that he would soon embark on combing the nooks and crannies of the domestic leagues looking for young, hungry and ambitious players to build a home-based national team.In a few short weeks, an emerging difference in style between Stephen Keshi and past national team coaches is showing already.If one disregards his forced American accent (I do not know where he got it from) and concentrates on his message one can see maturity in his management of the players, the public and the media.Obviously his experiences in Togo managing a difficult player with a huge ego like Emmanuel Adebayor, and in Mali, full of big players like Kanoute, Keita, has done him great good. Asked how he would have dealt with the mutinous attitude of some players that were sidelined by Siasia to instil discipline, Keshi said he would not have involved the media or the public in resolving any differences within the team. He would have kept it within the 'family' and not taken any decision that would have made the team weaker. That is the voice of wisdom.So far, with two matches under his belt, Keshi has scored highly with Nigerians.Eguavoen And The Olympic EaglesThis week another ex-international, another ex-captain of the national team, another coach of one of the national teams - the Olympic team, or Dream Team V, as the media have chosen to describe them, even before the team had played a match in the qualifiers for the Olympic Games of 2012 - Austin Eguavoen, took his turn in the eye of the storm.He is set for his own baptism. His is the last hope of Nigerians that 2011 will not be totally bleak for Nigerian football. The Olympic team is about to leave for Morocco to be tested in the qualifiers for London 2012. Many analysts have sworn to stake their reputation that from what they have seen of the team so far, even in the absence of the foreign based players that are not released by their clubs to participate, Austin has assembled and has prepared a crack team.Expectations are, therefore, high and all eyes are on Austin Eguavoen and his Dream Team V to re-ignite hope and celebration amongst Nigerians.The Hard Life Of Retired Sports Stars!I am using this opportunity and medium to draw attention to the plight of hundreds (perhaps thousands) of retired sports stars all over the country. As I traverse the country in my work I am encountering very many of them and the stories are the same. Life is extremely hard for most retired sports persons in various sports in the country.Life is even harder for those of them that made a name representing club or country at national level and became stars. Throughout their lives they have had to live with the public perception that stardom is synonymous with economic emancipation. The expectations are that they should be doing well economically since to succeed in Nigeria requires that you know people, have social connections with a good network of friends in positions of authority that can help you to make ends meet. If you have none of these things, life becomes very challenging and very hard.olusegunodegbami@hotmail.com
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