BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

The 34^th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations kicks off this Saturday in Cote d’Ivoire. It is Nigeria’s 20^th appearance at the African premier sports competition.

As in most of the 19 previous editions involving the Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles, based on their pedigree should be favourites having had podium finish in 15 out of 19 appearances.

Their last success was just 10 years ago, hence their clarion call: ‘Let’s do it again.’ It is one thing to declare intention. It is a different thing to deliver.

Pooled in Group A along with hosts, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau, it should have been considered a favourable draw for the Nigerian side as two of the teams will certainly go into the next round and a third may also advance as possible one of the four best second runners-up among six third finishers.

But there are worrisome signs emanating from the Nigerian squad. Lately, the squad had been depleted with the injuries to some first choice players.

Even, another one, Kelechi Ikeanacho is still a big doubt. But above all, the results of their last five matches, against medium rated sides of which they won just one, pose dangerous signals.

The matches were against Saudi Arabia, Mozambique, Lesotho,  Zimbabwe and Guinea. Save for the 3-2 defeat of Mozambique in which penalty kick played the decisive role, the remaining three matches were drawn against the lowly ranked teams.

Worse still, of the eight goals conceded in the five matches, six came from goalkeeping errors.

Goalkeeping howler has been the albatross the Super Eagles have had to contend with since 2015 when Vincent Enyeama was eased out of the team.

Enyeama was a dominant figure in the national team for 13 years, rising from an ordinary member in 2002 to become not just the captain, but a goalkeeper that even the renowned Lionel Messi had tremendous respect for having encountered him in two World Cup matches in 2010 and 2014.

Sadly, after Enyeama’s 13 year-tenure, the Super Eagles have in the past eight years tried eight goalkeepers. None moved close to being his equivalent.

Goalkeeping error caused Nigeria’s inability to get to the championship match of the 2019 Afcon.

Similar goalkeeping error terminated their progress at the 2021 edition at the Round of 16 stage when a routine long range kick caught Goalkeeper Maduka Okoye napping.

It was for the same reason that the Super Eagles did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup. Thus, goalkeeping is the most daunting problem the Super Eagles face as they begin their quest to do it again on Sunday.

On the offensive, they certainly posses the most potent strike force in the continent at the moment.  Like ESPN journalist, Colin Udoh once remarked, having  the  firepower is only part of the equation, however; supplying the ammunition is another, and keeping the rearguard safe and secure is a different conversation entirely.

If the Super Eagles are able to tighten their defence line and ensure that the goalkeeper is well protected, the midfield and the attacking line will have to the impetus to operate.

Another worrying sign is the planning ahead of the tournament. The Super Eagles are currently training in Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates. January is the coldest month in that region while the AFCON will hold in humid condition in West Africa. Save for two of the 25 invited players who are South Africa and Nigeria based, the rest played under winter conditions in Europe. Training in Abu Dhabi and coming to West Africa barely five days to their opening match will most likely have effect on the Nigerian team.

Similar basic errors have been committed in the past  when weather conditions in the theatre of competitions were not taken into consideration while camping.

First, in the lead to the final qualifying match for 1982 World Cup, Nigeria embarked on training tour in Norway and Iceland in winters for a qualifying match against Algeria in Lagos. The 2-0 home loss attested to the faulty choice of camping.

Similarly, with World Cup 2010 holding under extreme winter condition in South Africa, Nigeria camped in summer condition in the UK. Worse still, the team chose Durban – an all year summer city – as base camp from where they travel to cold Johannesburg for their opening match and the bitterly freezing and mountainous city of Bloemfontein for the next match before their last group match in the warn Durban.

Had they survived the last match, they would had had to return to the cold Johannesburg/Pretoria for subsequent matches. The inability of the team to win a single match is the result of poor planning. It is hoped the humid weather in Abidjan will not negatively affect the Super Eagles.

The self-destructive tendencies and problematic areas not withstanding, the Super Eagles can still soar on the wings and scale the heights. The Super Eagles have always scaled through turbulent waters. That is where their strength lies.

They may be bogged down once again by a myriad of problems, they have always thrived in crisis. As crisis riders, they were able to surmount favourites, Cote d’Ivoire in their march to victory in 2013.

As it has turned out to be, the three instances the Super Eagles won the Africa Cup of Nations were when they avoided defeat to Cote d’Ivoire. In 1980, they played goalless with Cote d’Ivoire en-route winning the trophy.

In 1994, they drew and then won an ensuing penalty shoot-out on their way eventual victory. The same happened in 2013 as the tournament favourites, were eliminated by Nigeria in the quarter finals.

Nigeria are again pitched to face Cote d’Ivoire. Avoiding a defeat may be an harbinger of fortune. The Super Eagles can still excel only if they believe they can.

We encourage them to have the strong desire to compete, the skills to excel, the courage to overcome and strength to believe which are the qualities of true Olympians.

They can do it, if they truly believe they can.