Captain of the first African team to win a FIFA Under 20 World Championships medal, Andrew Uwe, literally broke down after the Flying Eagles were bombed out of the 2025 edition by Argentina.
The Nigerians got a 4-0 drubbing from the Argies, the same country they had defeated 2-0 at home in the knock out stage of the 2023 edition. The Flying Eagles, managed by Aliyu Zubairu, did not show class in Chile, opening with a 1-0 loss to Norway.
Zubairu and his boys limped into the round of 16 following a 3-2 victory over Saudi Arabia and a 1-1 draw with Colombia. That was just enough to see them through as second best third place finishers.
Uwe cried out: “This is not encouraging at all. Our Youth teams, especially the Flying Eagles, are losing ground. In the past, they were the team to watch. Now the tide has turned.”
Morocco emerged champions, for the first time, joining 2009 winners Ghana as the two African teams to topple the world in the Under 20 Championships.
“The same Argentina that beat us 4-0, failed to stand Morocco in the grand finale where they lost 2-0. We just have to go back to the drawing board and do something about our Youth teams. The world will not wait for us,” Uwe said.
To understand Uwe’s pain, it would be nice to look at how Morocco and Ghana flew past the Flying Eagles in the tournament. The North Africans debuted in 1977 when the Under 20 Championships began, in Tunisia. They finished bottom of Group B.
Ghana came very late, long after Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Guinea, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire. Some of these African countries were conceding half a dozen goals and leading from the rear in their group standings.
The Flying Eagles became the first Africans to win a medal, bronze, in 1985. They did it in grand style, outplaying hosts, Soviet Union, who had beaten them in one of the group games. That was also the first time an African team would play in the semi finals. Algeria qualified for the quarter finals in 1979.
In 1989, the Flying Eagles moved up, as the first Africans to qualify for the grand finale. They lost 2-0 to the Portugal of Luis Figo. President Ibrahim Babangida declared public holidays to mark that giant step forward and each of the players was rewarded with 75, 000 naira cash.
However, late comers Ghana, have a better record. The Black Meteors were finalists in 1993 and again in 2001 before capping it all with the trophy in 2009, inspired by Andre Ayew. Their coach, Benjamin Sellas, played most of his football in Nigeria and when he moved to Brothers Union, Bangladesh, two of his mates, Loveday Omoruyi and Okulaja, were Nigerians.
Uwe’s idea is for the NFF to look back into the past and pay more attention to real grassroot development.
“I am a product of the Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON). I played for Lagos in the 1981 Ramat Cup with players like Muyiwa Motajo, Bremner Allah and Macmillan Ogbomo.
“Stars like Waidi Akanni, Samson Siasia, Niyi Adeleye, Titus Mbah, Ndubuisi Okosieme, Charles Okonkwo, Christian Obi, Israel Akporero, Nduka Ugbade and Jonathan Akpoborie were discovered by YSFON, in the years of Tony Ekeh. All of them moved up from the Youth level to the senior national team,” he said.
Nigeria is blessed with talent.What should be done is to fish out developmental coaches dotting the global space. NFF must look at coaches who went through the Youth teams as players.
Siasia won bronze as a player, with the Flying Eagles in 1985. He proved himself as a coach, with a FIFA Under 20 Championships silver in 2005 and an Olympic bronze in 2016. Ugbade was an assistant coach when the Golden Eagles became World Champions, for the fifth time, in 2015.
Uwe holds the German Elite Licence, the highest coaching qualification for Youth teams. He also trained in the United States, as a Coach and Referee. An African Nations Cup veteran, Seeler has what it takes to be hired as a coach in Nigeria.
•Emeka is an iconoclastic historian and sports enthusiast
