Monday, September 14
2 weeks that changed my life (Lamentations of a soccer fan)
I've been a wild supporter of the Super Eagles of Nigeria and Arsenal Football Club of London for as long as I've followed international and European club football respectively. The events that have transpired over the last two weeks have made me evaluate my attitude as a football fanatic, and might change my perspective as a soccer fan.
I began to follow the Eagles somewhere between Senegal 92 and Tunisia 94. Coming of age as a primary school kid, this also coincided with Nigeria beginning to emerge as a force in African and world soccer. Of course, I learned of the legends of past few decades, of failures to make it to World Cups past, of Godwin Odiye and Christian Chukwu and Sam Okwaraji. But Nigeria's birthright as a soccer force was something I took for granted, as the next few years saw all kinds of success - swashbuckling wins over CIV and Algeria, winning the Nations Cup in Tunisia, the 96 Olympics, etc. Minor setbacks like the loss at Wembley and the US Gold Cup were seen as mere abberrations. And so continued my love for the Eagles, expecting to win every tournament we participated in, and justifying each time we fell short. Simply because we were Nigeria, it never occurred to me until last week that we were anything less than a major world power.
I began to follow the English Premiership in 1997, when my parents finally got cable in our Ibadan home. I was immediately drawn towards Arsenal, because they had Dennis Bergkamp, one of my favorite players from USA 94. Their style of football quickly drew me in, and I began to appreciate Adams, Vieira, Overmars, etc. And my Uncle Jide, visiting from "Jand," bought me an Arsenal JVC jersey. I became an Arsenal fan, in what happened to be the season, 1997/98, when they won the double. I've watched maybe 500 Arsenal games in my life, celebrated when they won, and cursed when they drew or lost. In not one instance did I expect anything less than a comprehensive victory.
My love for football has been a major factor of the past decade and a half of my life. However, I happened to learn to enjoy football through the prism of these two teams. While I have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the game, my entire football consciousness has been in relation to the Eagles and the Gunners. I was never a good athlete and hardly played the game beyond age 13 or so. Maybe my love for football was more about my support for the teams.
Arsenal and Nigeria have fallen on hard times lately, the latter perhaps more irrevocably so. And it has been hard for me to deal with the reality that we just might not automatically be among the elite anymore. I don't know how to watch the Nations Cup or African World Cup Qualifying and not fully expect the Eagles to triumph. I don't know how to follow the Premiership or Champions League without expecting Arsenal to win. And after wondering why over the last couple of years, my love for the game seemed to be on the wane, it all began to make itself clear to me.
Arsenal's inactivity in the transfer market, coupled with some revelatory statements from Wenger and the board, made it clear that, in the immediate term, we won't be making any major challenges for the big trophies. The two collapses against the Manchester teams, which exhibited the same frailties we'd been railing about, only served to confirm this. Yes, we might win a trophy here and there, but for the first time since I began to follow the team, I don't have any realistic hopes of winning the Premiership or Champions League.
The Nigerian case is even more tragic. The failure of any major soccer publications, websites, or programs, to even notice our collapse in World Cup qualifying made it crystal clear - we are not a major footballing nation right now, perhaps we never were. We've been living off our successes in the mid 90s - since then Cameroun have won the Olympic Gold, the likes of Ghana, Turkey, Korea, Croatia, have all matched or furthered our 1994 performance. We are hardly represented in the players at the top clubs, and we haven't gotten past the Semis of the ANC, besides 2000 on home soil. We are a second tier, at best, footballing nation, and might have to get used to the World Cup taking place without us for the near future.
So for the first time in my life, I am going to learn to love the game for itself. I will enjoy the Champions League final and not grumble about how Arsenal should have been present, if only we had converted those chances against Valencia. I'll watch the El Classico derby and enjoy the football on show, not wonder how Arsenal would fare against either team if we meet in Europe. And next year, I will wholeheartedly enjoy the first World Cup on African soil as a neutral, and not whine about having to adopt Ghana because my own nation is not present.
I am a young man still, and in my lifetime, I fully expect both teams to return to the summit. (In Arsenal's case, I fully expect my children to watch us win loads of trophies and learn about the visionary Arsene Wenger the same way I did Herbert Chapman) And maybe then, the victories will be even sweeter, as I would fully understand what it means to not take victory for granted
I began to follow the Eagles somewhere between Senegal 92 and Tunisia 94. Coming of age as a primary school kid, this also coincided with Nigeria beginning to emerge as a force in African and world soccer. Of course, I learned of the legends of past few decades, of failures to make it to World Cups past, of Godwin Odiye and Christian Chukwu and Sam Okwaraji. But Nigeria's birthright as a soccer force was something I took for granted, as the next few years saw all kinds of success - swashbuckling wins over CIV and Algeria, winning the Nations Cup in Tunisia, the 96 Olympics, etc. Minor setbacks like the loss at Wembley and the US Gold Cup were seen as mere abberrations. And so continued my love for the Eagles, expecting to win every tournament we participated in, and justifying each time we fell short. Simply because we were Nigeria, it never occurred to me until last week that we were anything less than a major world power.
I began to follow the English Premiership in 1997, when my parents finally got cable in our Ibadan home. I was immediately drawn towards Arsenal, because they had Dennis Bergkamp, one of my favorite players from USA 94. Their style of football quickly drew me in, and I began to appreciate Adams, Vieira, Overmars, etc. And my Uncle Jide, visiting from "Jand," bought me an Arsenal JVC jersey. I became an Arsenal fan, in what happened to be the season, 1997/98, when they won the double. I've watched maybe 500 Arsenal games in my life, celebrated when they won, and cursed when they drew or lost. In not one instance did I expect anything less than a comprehensive victory.
My love for football has been a major factor of the past decade and a half of my life. However, I happened to learn to enjoy football through the prism of these two teams. While I have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the game, my entire football consciousness has been in relation to the Eagles and the Gunners. I was never a good athlete and hardly played the game beyond age 13 or so. Maybe my love for football was more about my support for the teams.
Arsenal and Nigeria have fallen on hard times lately, the latter perhaps more irrevocably so. And it has been hard for me to deal with the reality that we just might not automatically be among the elite anymore. I don't know how to watch the Nations Cup or African World Cup Qualifying and not fully expect the Eagles to triumph. I don't know how to follow the Premiership or Champions League without expecting Arsenal to win. And after wondering why over the last couple of years, my love for the game seemed to be on the wane, it all began to make itself clear to me.
Arsenal's inactivity in the transfer market, coupled with some revelatory statements from Wenger and the board, made it clear that, in the immediate term, we won't be making any major challenges for the big trophies. The two collapses against the Manchester teams, which exhibited the same frailties we'd been railing about, only served to confirm this. Yes, we might win a trophy here and there, but for the first time since I began to follow the team, I don't have any realistic hopes of winning the Premiership or Champions League.
The Nigerian case is even more tragic. The failure of any major soccer publications, websites, or programs, to even notice our collapse in World Cup qualifying made it crystal clear - we are not a major footballing nation right now, perhaps we never were. We've been living off our successes in the mid 90s - since then Cameroun have won the Olympic Gold, the likes of Ghana, Turkey, Korea, Croatia, have all matched or furthered our 1994 performance. We are hardly represented in the players at the top clubs, and we haven't gotten past the Semis of the ANC, besides 2000 on home soil. We are a second tier, at best, footballing nation, and might have to get used to the World Cup taking place without us for the near future.
So for the first time in my life, I am going to learn to love the game for itself. I will enjoy the Champions League final and not grumble about how Arsenal should have been present, if only we had converted those chances against Valencia. I'll watch the El Classico derby and enjoy the football on show, not wonder how Arsenal would fare against either team if we meet in Europe. And next year, I will wholeheartedly enjoy the first World Cup on African soil as a neutral, and not whine about having to adopt Ghana because my own nation is not present.
I am a young man still, and in my lifetime, I fully expect both teams to return to the summit. (In Arsenal's case, I fully expect my children to watch us win loads of trophies and learn about the visionary Arsene Wenger the same way I did Herbert Chapman) And maybe then, the victories will be even sweeter, as I would fully understand what it means to not take victory for granted
Refresh
Why don't I write more? Besides the odd, infrequent note on facebook, that is.
This is a new beginning, with the plan to restart this blog and provide my commentary. Lord knows I have all these opinions that aren't being expressed. Truth be told, I guess I don't write because I assume no one is interested in reading, but how could they ever be, if I don't write? Circular logic.
So this is an attempt to refresh this blog, writing for me and only me. If I pick up any fans along the way, that could be a pleasant surprise, but in the meantime, I'll write for me and only me. I don't have to worry about perfect grammar, or if my argument makes sense to the lay person, since I'm writing for only me.
So lets hope this relaunch proves more successful than my initial attempt to launch this blog. Blogga Pleez, I'm back.
This is a new beginning, with the plan to restart this blog and provide my commentary. Lord knows I have all these opinions that aren't being expressed. Truth be told, I guess I don't write because I assume no one is interested in reading, but how could they ever be, if I don't write? Circular logic.
So this is an attempt to refresh this blog, writing for me and only me. If I pick up any fans along the way, that could be a pleasant surprise, but in the meantime, I'll write for me and only me. I don't have to worry about perfect grammar, or if my argument makes sense to the lay person, since I'm writing for only me.
So lets hope this relaunch proves more successful than my initial attempt to launch this blog. Blogga Pleez, I'm back.
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