Siasia’s big test

Friday is the day that Samson Siasia takes his first major step on the road to being Super Eagles coach.

But it will not be until the end of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup that we will know whether or not he has done enough to be assured that when the time comes to look for the next Super Eagles helmsman, he will be the man to slide seamlessly in.

Or whether he will have to wait a while longer to get the tap.

For me, it is interesting to see how Siasia has progressed from 2005.

Some four years ago, he was an unknown quantity as far as coaching was concerned. I remember emailing him at the time while he was coaching kids at the Stars Soccer Club in Atlanta, Georgia.

I wanted to do an interview for KickOff. After the interview, we got to reliving old times and the conversation sort of moved to what he would like todo. In his typical, swashbuckling style, he told me he would like to coach one of the national teams.

Now, I have heard (and still hear) Nigerian coaches talk about coaching ‘any of the national teams’ and what I can say is that there is almost always a subservient tone to the statement, almost like the federation is doing them a favour by offering them the job.

But that was not the case with Siasia. When he said it, he did so with the brash, swashbuckling, almost arrogant confidence of a man who knew what he wanted and would brook no nonsense in getting it.

After that interview, and a few others that followed it from other sources, Siaisa was offered the Under 20 job. The rest, as they say, is history.

In that time, Siasia has won the African Youth Championships, won silver at the World Youth Championships, losing in the final to a team led by current World Player of the Year-in-waiting Lionel Messi, and then gone on to qualify for and win silver at the Olympic Games, again, losing only to a Messi-inspired Argentina.

But it is less what he has won, and how he has gone about it that has won him admirers all over the country.

Siasia has de-emphasised individual players, and emphasized the team. He has never been afraid to cut players, either for footballing or disciplinary reasons. Neither has he been afraid to take the establishment head-on in a bid to get what he needs to do his job.

It is a character trait lacking in most coaches of Nigerian extraction, and I daresay it is what has taken him thus far.

A classic illustration of this attitude happened early in the job, while he was still trying out players for the teams.

A certain veteran coach had not only suggested that Siasia was just a rookie coach and needed an ‘elder’ coach to essentially supervise him, but went ahead to show up at his team’s training session and tried to impose himself on players.

Siasia told him in no uncertain terms, to steer clear of his players. And if he had anything he wanted to tell the players, to pass it to him (Siasia).

That was the end of that coach’s interference in Sia’s teams. No other ‘veteran’ coach dared come near after that either.

It is a tribute to the young man’s self belief that even before he had achieved anything, he had the confidence to trust himself and his own instincts.

And it is that same spirit that has seen him win the hearts of the majority of Nigerians, and constantly draw the ire of those who run the game.

And that is why Siasia, rather than any of his players, will be the focus during this tournament for most Nigerians.

People want to see again, the man they expect, the man they desperately want, to take over as Super Eagles coach.

If he works his way to winning gold at this tournament, he will be a shoo-in for the job, and fans can sit back with a smug grin and tell the NFF ‘We told you so’.

If he doesn’t, and his team (God forbid) crash out early, expect to see a return of those strident calls for a foreign coach for the Super Eagles.

The only reason that hasn’t taken on life is simply because folks expect Siasia to be next in line.

We wait to see if this current class of Siasia boys will take their boss one step further.

His teams almost always seem to start slow during a tournament, but in the end, they find a way to get there.

Whether that might be the case at this particular competition, we will just have to wait and see.

But for Siasia, the goal is much more than this tournament.

Congrats to the semifinalists

This is sending a big hola to Kano Pillars, Heartland and Bayelsa United for reaching the semifinals of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederations Cup.

I want to send it especially to Bayelsa, who looked all but out after the first three matches, but have clawed their way back to claim a place in the last four.

I must confess that of the three, the only team I expected to do well were Heartland. But I have been pleasantly surprised by the other two.

To think that two Nigerian clubs will play the semifinals of the Champions League is heartening. And I want to wish whichever one gets to the final the best of luck.

Incidentally, on the basis of what both sides have played so far, Pillars look the team better equipped to win the final.

I say this because their road record has been nothing short of remarkable.

And to win a final, that will be crucial.

Which is not to say, I support one team over the other. Just pointing out a simple fact.

Goodluck to all three.

Hopefully, at the end of the day, both CAF trophies will be comfortably ensconced in Nigeria.