Super Eagles, Super Falcons, Others’ Revival: Bazuaye Offers Blueprint, Demands Roles for 1985 Eaglets

Former Super Eagles winger, Baldwin Bazuaye (MON), has outlined what he believes Nigeria must do to revive its national football teams, the Super Eagles and others, insisting that better planning, early preparation and greater involvement of former internationals are crucial to restoring the country’s lost glory, Completesports.com reports.

Bazuaye also called for members of Nigeria’s 1985 Golden Eaglets squad, which won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in China, to be given prominent roles in the country’s football administration and national teams.

Bazuaye who currently represents Edo South Senatorial District as a Director at the Edo State Sports Commission spoke against the backdrop of the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Super Falcons’ inability to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil and the Flying Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2027 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations and, by extension, the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Bazuaye Blames Administration for the Super Eagles’, Other National Teams’ Woes

Bazuaye, who previously played for Ethnikos Piraeus FC of Greece, argued that the problems affecting the Super Eagles, Super Falcons and the other Nigeria’s national football teams have more to do with administration than technical ability.

“In the past, I mean during our days at the various levels of the national teams, coaches were appointed well ahead of time for each competition,” the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games gold medallist with the Dream Team I began.

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“A team had six, seven, eight months to prepare for a tournament. In some cases, a coach got up to one or two years to prepare his team for a major tournament.

“The coach then starts by inviting players from the domestic league to camp. And it becomes a matter of elimination by substitution as preparation intensifies towards the competition.

“And while this goes on, in areas where the coach doesn’t seem to have enough players, he invites players from Europe to strengthen such vital areas.

“And so it continues until the competition proper starts. At that time, we had the Bembo Village Camp, the Afuze Camp and others.

“But today, what do we see? A coach is appointed to lead a team through the qualifiers barely weeks or months before the start of the qualification series. Because of the short time for preparation, the coach decides to invite all manner of players from abroad to camp.

“And the result, you and I know better — the team is already knocked out even before the crucial stage of the qualification series,” said Bazuaye, the son of former Nigeria coach Willy Bazuaye.

Bazuaye Demands Better Preparation for Super Eagles, Other National Teams

Bazuaye stressed that Nigeria must abandon its current approach if the country’s national football teams are to get back on track.

“We can’t keep doing and repeating the same approach and still expect a different result,” he said of the Super Eagles, Super Falcons and the other national football teams’ poor preparations fot tournament a d competitions.

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“Preparation is key to success. If you prepare well, you expect a good result. When a coach is given adequate time to prepare, gets support from his employers and, of course, the coach knows he has no reason not to succeed.”

Bazuaye Wants 1985 Golden Eaglets Players Given Top Roles

The former Bendel Insurance, Shooting Stars and Concord FC player also lamented that members of the 1985 Golden Eaglets, who won the FIFA U-17 World Cup for Nigeria for the first time, appear to have been abandoned and frozen out of the national team set-up.

“These are the players that put the country on the map of world football by winning the first ‘World Cup’ for the country,” Bazuaye recalled.

“Ordinarily, they are supposed to take centre stage in the country’s football set-up. But here we are, no one cares.

“Except Nduka Ugbade, who once served with the U-17 team, and Imama Amapakabo, who also served as an assistant coach, who else can you remember?

“Our 1985 Golden Eaglets players that won the U-17 World Cup in China are like the proverbial chickens that laid the ‘golden eggs’ and should not be forgotten just like that,” Bazuaye demanded.