Nigeria and Greece(football)
Jun 18th, 2010 by admin
The Super Eagles were supposed to go for goals. One of the only African team left standing but it bowed out when it lost to Greece. Nigeria lost to Greece 2-1. Earlier in the day, tension was high, many had prepared to watch the match at designated places, those who thought electricity may fail had bought fuel for their generators. On my part, I wasn’t ready to watch the match, I had a number of assignments I had to complete but I was at the studio and at the mercy of the editor. So, there I sat eager to get some work done so watching the match became a must. And being a patriotic soul I decided to watch the match. Besides I needed to see the Nigerian team do the nation proud. In any case no one was bothered; all bets were on the Nigerian team to do us proud. After all Greece was a novice in the area of football, they could not be compared to Nigeria, a big brand when it comes to football, a nation known for its love for the game, and unmistaken skill at the sport particularly after it became the first African country to win the much coveted Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta games. Nigerians are known to parade football stars and It boasts of numerous Nigerians in foreign teams so this was expected to be a win game for Nigeria.
About 15mins into the game Nigeria scored and all hell broke loose; with shouts of I told you so, everyone relaxed. The Nigerian team was about to be worthy ambassadors of the country. Besides no one wanted to see the Super Eagles lose, the only African team now in the world cup. Greece was no match for Nigeria, bets again began to fly. The Nigerian team was going to do the nation proud. Then my mind wondered what would be going on in the minds of the Greeks, then I suddenly realized that the Greek team probably in awe of the Nigerian team would still rain curses and boast of thrashing the Nigerian team. The Greeks are a proud lot and I knew the Greek team was going to place emphasis on the importance of winning against the Nigerian team.
The rest they say history, when Kaita was given the red card, there was a dramatic turn in the game and a recent commentary from one of the Nigerian dailies had this view on Kaita. “A new word has been added to the Dictionary ‘KAITA”- meaning a man who single-handedly hinders the hopes of his country for reasons best known to him. “KAITA” can be used in place of words like Jeopardise, Hinder, Sabotage, Disrupt, Antagonise, and Upset etc. Examples are, “Don’t Kaita what we have been building for 11 months in one day”. Or “Don’t be a Kaita” etc. I am sure all Nigerians saw and lamented Nigeria’s folly in fielding players of low intelligence and absolutely animal instincts! What the hell is a player like Kaita doing in the Super Eagles? Was it Federal character or what? Football 001 says you don’t retaliate whatsoever or you get a straight red, for God’s sake! Kaita messed up 150million Nigerians. Lord have mercy! “- Dr. Seyi Roberts
After the folly, the Nigerian team began to play the defensive, much to their disadvantage as it became a battle of ten men against eleven men. Anyway they lost despite several opportunities at scoring. I personally gave kudos to the goal keeper Vincent Enyeama who brilliantly did us proud. It was a surprise turn of events but under the new coach Lars Largerback, I saw a confident team which was unable to translate an unfortunate incident to their advantage.