HURDLES EAGLES MUST CROSS in Addis Ababa

The Super Eagles are just two games away from the Brazil 2014 World Cup but they will have to surmount several obstacles ranging from a hostile weather to hostile fans in their first leg, final round qualifier against Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, reports ’TANA AIYEJINA

The Super Eagles, no doubt, are huge favourites against Ethiopia’s Walya Antelopes in their final African qualifiers for the Brazil 2014 World Cup.

Nigeria have played against Ethiopia 11 times, won six— the most recent being the 2-0 win at the 2013 AFCON— drew five and have never lost to them.

Indeed, a peep into coach Stephen Keshi’s list of invited players for the crucial two-leg encounter shows that the Ethiopians, who mostly play their football at home, shouldn’t pose a threat when both teams file out in the first leg at the 72-year-old 35, 000 capacity Addis Ababa Stadium on October 13.

But the Nigerian national team, who are gunning for their fifth World Cup outing, will first have to surmount some key barriers in Addis Ababa before they can finish up the job in the return leg in Nigeria and book a ticket on the flight to Brazil next summer.

Ethiopian hostility

A look down memory lane shows the North-East Africans are not good losers and the Eagles must be prepared against hostile treatment by the Ethiopians.

Twenty eight years ago, Nigeria’s Flying Eagles engaged the Ethiopian U-20 side in the semi-finals of the 1985 African Youth Championship, which served as qualification for the 1985 FIFA World Youth Championship (now known as the FIFA U-20 World Cup).

The winners of the semi-finals automatically qualified for the WYC from Africa.

The Flying Eagles won the first leg 3-0 in Lagos, making the return clash in Addis Ababa more of a mere formality game.

The Nigerian contingent did not bargain for the treatment that was meted out to them after Mark Anunobi’s goal ensured that the return leg ended 1-1.

The Nigerian delegation returned from Addis Ababa with bloodied faces and varying degrees of injuries.

“The Ethiopians flew up after the match. After they lost 3-0 in Lagos, they returned home to tell their people that we were throwing bread at them; that they had no food to eat in their country,” former Nigeria winger, Ndubuisi Okosieme, a member of the Flying Eagles team, said.

Okosieme said even then Nigeria Football Association Chairman, the late Tony Ikhazobor, was not spared.

“A lot of the players and officials were beaten up. In fact, Kingsley Onye (a player) was the worst victim; he was beaten and he fainted on the pitch. They even attacked Ikhazobor. I was lucky to have escaped. I was smart enough and I bolted into the dressing room.”

The unfriendly reception could even begin right from the Bole International Airport.

Okosieme, who went on to win a bronze medal at the ’85 WYC in Russia, added, “When we arrived at the airport, they (Ethiopians) gave us signs that they were going to kill us; that they will cut off our necks. In our hotel, they avoided us in elevators.

“We knew that there was going to be trouble but we didn’t know that they were going to be that serious about it.”

South Africa’s Bafana Bafana sensed this hostility and took all the precautions they could, even flying in with their own chef, but they still lost 1-0 in Addis Ababa in the previous round of the African qualifiers.

The former Belgium-based winger advised the Nigeria Football Federation to take the team’s security seriously ahead of the match.

“That was a long time ago, I don’t know if they have changed now. We should go there and play our game; they are hostile people but we should not let that pull us back.

“The NFF should be security conscious. Our players are professionals and their safety is paramount. I’ve not heard about such hostile incident of 1985 anymore and I am hopeful it doesn’t come up again,” he added.

 Bad pitch

“The pitch in Ethiopia is very bumpy and tight. We will need to have Plan A and Plan B,” Bafana Bafana coach, Gordon Igesund, said before their defeat.

The state of the Addis Ababa Stadium is always a source of worry for visiting teams. The pitch is rough and bumpy. And when it rains, it gets even worse for opponents. The Eagles, then coached by Samson Siasia, played there in 2011 in a 2012 AFCON qualifier and managed to come out with a 2-2 draw.

Some say Nigeria would have qualified for the 2012 AFCON, had the Eagles won that game.

 Altitude

Nigeria are out to achieve a favourable result at an altitude of 2,400m in Addis Ababa.

 A sports medicine expert, Dr. Bukola Bojuwoye, explains what it is like to play in such circumstances.

He said, “By the time you climb to a high altitude, the oxygen tension decreases, making it difficult to take up oxygen. The body has to step up more red blood cells to take more oxygen.

“That is why people in the high altitude areas have higher red blood cells in their systems. That is also why people who do endurances races go to high altitude places to train.”

This medical view puts the Ethiopians at an advantage as the bulk of the team are based at home but Bojuwoye believes the Eagles can tackle the problem, if properly managed.

“The right thing to do is to get there early, play the game and come out. We will still have enough energy and it will not be long enough for the weather to affect us.

“It’s not a three-hour game, so it won’t affect them that much. But if you are going to stay there for a long period of time, then it may affect you.

“What we should also do is to always get them (players) a lot of water, get them to do a lot of aerobic exercises that can keep them at their best at least all through the game.”

Early kick-off time

The Ethiopia Football Association had also moved the kick-off time from 4pm to 2pm, as they try to apply all tactics to emerge victorious in the first leg. However, NFF General Secretary, Musa Amadu, says even that won’t affect the Eagles.

“Either 2pm, 4pm or any other time the match is fixed for, I don’t think it will have any adverse effect on the team (Eagles). The Ethiopians are just trying to frustrate us but we will be prepared for them,” he said.

NFF Head of International Competitions, Mohammed Sanusi, added, “We’re ready for the competition we will face from Ethiopia and the federation has made everything ready to ensure that we have a fine outing.”