Comment: Nigeria Is Not Proud Of Africa's Second Best, Heartland FC

Nigeria’s representative in this year’s CAF Champions league, Heartland FC, has indubitably done the country proud by reaching the finals of the tournament, though they narrowly lost out on the away goals rule to Congolese outfit TP Mazembe.

They have every reason to be content with their final placing at the competition, as that was the best they could produce with the level of preparation they put into the competition.

With the level of seriousness (or lack thereof) that the team, its officials, and supporters put into the crucial encounter, they could never have achieved anything better than the ‘king of the pretenders’ title they earned on the day.

The Heartland FC team looked shabby in the poorly crafted jerseys, belying the importance of the encounter, and making the final game of Africa’s biggest club tournament look like a local league tie between Sunshine Star and Mighty Jets.

The team’s goalkeeper, Brown, wore a pair of trousers that had two numbers roughly inscribed on a part directly over his right thigh, one was the number ‘12’ while the other appeared to be the number 17. He did not have any name on his jersey and his gloves looked more suited to motorcycling than football.

The other player’s had their names and numbers daubed at the back of their jerseys with what appeared to be a mixture of chalk, local pap and water. The emblazoned words and numbers looked like the handiwork of a poorly trained apprentice ‘printer’,and to make matters even worse, the team’s jerseys did not even carry the CAF Champions League logo. I remind you, this was a final.

The scruffy appearance was not restricted to the players alone, as the medical attendants of the team also appeared totally out of sorts. One of them came in with a face cap that popular Nigerian television character ‘Ajasco’ would have refused to adorn out of shame.

The only individual that appeared presentable on the Heartland FC side was the coach, Kelechi Emetiole who though wearing a slightly oversized suit, appeared the only person that could say he did not find his attire at a jumble sale. I hoped Madam Dora Akunyili was watching as Nigeria was being thoroughly embarrassed in front of the world.

I realise that I am basically giving a sermon regarding the apparel worn by the team, but I will move on to more important matters. After all, it was not a fashion parade but a serious matter of football. However, if truth is to prevail, the scruffy attire was no match for their torrid gameplay on the day.

The game itself clearly showed that African club football is still light years away from the game being played on other continents, including Asia.

Needless to reiterate that the two teams played poorly, but TP Mazembe had a better mentality coming into the encounter, while Heartland FC approached the match with the obsolete strategy of putting every man behind the ball and dealing in silly time-wasting tactics.

However, what may have been the deciding factor in the encounter was the massive support at the stadium rooting for the Congolese side. Even the President of the country, Joseph Kabila was at the stadium to support the club side. My how the supporters deserved this victory for their side.

In hindsight, it is clear that the CAF Champions League final was lost in Owerri, where Nigerians abandoned the team in its time of need. There was very little awareness of the game, as sycophantic journalists and greedy football administrators were busy paying eye-service in Abuja.

There are reports that a certain privately owned television station was given money by the team’s management to broadcast the game live but failed to carry out its part of the agreement! Shameful!

Unfortunately, the team will return back to the country soon and things would go on as usual. The NFL will not bother to review the performance of the country’s representatives and even if they do, it will only be an avenue for further pillaging of the public funds at its disposal with no meaningful output to show for it. The cycle of football failure in the country continues.

Awenlimobor Sylvester, Goal.com