Brazil’s Victory Over Spain And Lessons For Keshi

The 29 competitive unbeaten run of Spain came to an end Sunday, as they were trounced 3-0 by Brazil in the final of the 2013 Confederations Cup decided at the Maracana Stadium, Brazil.

The Brazilians won the 2014 FIFA World Cup preparatory championship amidst series of protests that almost marred the successful hosting of the competition but the victory has silenced the protesters.

Going into the tie nobody gave the defending champions any chance of defeating the World and European champions, who boast of the best players when it comes to football.

Some media outlets in Brazil had described the team as the worst in the nation’s proud football history.

According to FIFA’s website, Spain’s loss was the first time the reigning world and European champions had lost a competitive match in just under three years, with their last setback coming at the hands of Switzerland in their opening game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The 3-0 drubbing of Spain, whom bookmakers had touted to win the trophy, underscores the fact that hardwork, determination and a bit of luck play vital roles in the quest to become a champion.

What brought about this victory for the hosts of the Confederations Cup was that they paraded a crop of youthful and talented players who progressed  from their age grade teams to the senior side. It is on record that Neymar, the star player of the tournament, who recently signed a lucrative deal with FC Barcelona of Spain, was in Nigeria for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2009.

There are so many lessons for the Super Eagles to learn from Brazil’s triumph over the star-studded pre-tournament favourites, Spain.

Despite being ranked 22nd in the world prior to the start of the Confederations Cup, their lowest position in over a decade, and failure to record a win in series of friendlies, the Brazilian team under the same coach that led them to win the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan, Felipe Scolari, came under a lot of  pressure going into the Confederations Cup.

The experienced coach was also faced with the task of moulding a new team out of the ageing squad that failed to go beyond the quarter-final stage of the last mundial in South Africa in 2010, a team that would rekindle the renowned Samba play of the Brazilian team of the 70s and the early 90s.

Such was also the task before coach Stephen Keshi of Nigeria’s Super Eagles going into the Confederations Cup only a few months after he led a bunch of  professional and inexperienced home based players to win the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

There are countless of lessons which our national team, the Super Eagles, could learn from the competition and most especially from Brazil.

There is no doubt that the outing in Brazil had finally ended the euphoria of AFCON, victory and Stephen Keshi’s unbeaten run as the Nigeria’s national team coach. The tournament exposed some of the weaknesses of the Nigerian side and brought to fore the kind of quality required at that level of football competition. Several factors, including poor finishing, inexperience, incessant experimentation with  players, poor preparations among others, contributed to Eagles’  poor outing in Brazil.

Again, the fact that Tahitians were able to score a goal also showed how weak the Nigerian defence was.

The last group match loss against Uruguay showed that the Eagles still lack the quality to compete at the highest level of world football. Watching the Nigerian side spurning begging chances in virtually all the matches they played in Brazil further exposed the poor marksmanship of  the team.

Keshi came under scathing  criticisms for parading a relatively inexperienced  players at the Confederations Cup at the expense of more experienced players like Osaze Odemwingie; Joseph Yobo; Ikechukwu Uche, Kalu Uche amongst others.

When Keshi’s decision eventually backfired as the Eagles failed to go past the group stage of the tournament, football pundits had harsh words for him for shutting the door against some established players of the team.

Some of the critics are of the opinion that if Keshi had invited experienced players to prosecute the Confederations Cup, the team would have shown to the world that their emergence as African champions in South Africa was no fluke. The adage that you don’t change a winning team came to haunt Keshi for failing to use the same squad that won the Nations Cup for the Confederations Cup.

Indeed Keshi might have made some tactical blunders in the selection of some players to the Confederations Cup, but Nigerians should not forget that the immediate task for the coach was to use the tournament to discover some new players that would ensure that the Super Eagles qualify for the Brazil 2014 World Cup.

Brazil’s victory over Spain is a reminder of what continuity can do in a team.

With barely 12 months before the 2014 FIFA World Cup next year, and God willing Nigeria qualify for the tournament, the Eagles require a lot more technical imput from the bench and a blend of quality players selected to do the country proud. It is in this light we are imploring coach Keshi to extend an olive branch to players that have vast experience and that would still contribute positively to the Eagles’ performance in  international competitions.