I refused to bribe coaches to play for Nigeria — Oparaku

 

Mobi Oparaku

Atlanta’96 Olympic gold medallist and 1993 U-17 World Cup winner, Mobi Oparaku, is pessimistic about Nigeria’s chances at the World Cup. He tells KAZEEM BUSARI what Nigeria coach needs to do for the team to perform well in Brazil next year.

What do you think of Nigeria’s success in qualifying for the World Cup?

I was not worried about Ethiopia challenge because I had tipped the Super Eagles to get the World Cup ticket. Nigeria won the ticket in their first leg encounter in Addis Ababa when they defeated Ethiopia 2-1. But our team should realise that the World Cup finals is a different ball game from the qualifiers, so it is left for coach Stephen Keshi not to put Nigeria’s chances in jeopardy by selecting players based on sentiments. We have to be at the World Cup with the mentality that we can win, and we should go to Brazil with the best players we have.

I’ve been to the World Cup; the feeling of playing at that level is indescribable for players who know the worth. It is the dream of footballers and nations to feature in the World Cup; only the best are expected to be there. It is a difficult task to qualify, and even a bigger challenge to play at that level.

But being African champions should count for something when we square up against the best teams in the world.

The World Cup is all about big time players. It begins to dawn on players how big the event is when they line up side by side with the best players in the various leagues around the world. Inexperienced players are always intimidated when they see the big name players whom they could only see on television; but for the top players, the challenge will be a continuation of what they experience in the big leagues in Europe and South America.

 If we must get something out of the World Cup, Keshi must include our best players and not the ones that struggled against Jordan or the ones that missed several chances to score against Malawi and Ethiopia. We still need the big name players in the Super Eagles, they are the game changers. The team is currently filled with players that are not consistent in forms. That won’t help us at the World Cup. If Keshi continues to feature this same set of players, I don’t see Nigeria going far at the World Cup. He should bring back Osaze Odemwingie and Ikechukwu Uche, and also make sure Nosa Igiebor has a regular role in the team.

What was your experience when you featured in the 1998 World Cup in France?

When you’re in the team for the World Cup, knowing that you’re playing against the best players in the world, you will feel on top of the world. It’s an amazing feeling.

What role did you play when there was in-fighting in the Super Eagles at the 1998 World Cup?

We were new to the team, and I was among the youngest players at the World Cup. We had little to offer and we were there to learn from the senior players as they did their thing. We tried to emulate the good things in the team, so there was nothing we could do to influence any decision taken by the senior players.

Can you describe your experience after winning the 1993 U-17 World Cup and the 1996 Olympic football gold?

They were successes I never dreamt I would have until we won those competitions. I’m grateful to God for those achievements because they made me a better player in the sport. I always refer to the U-17 success as a miracle because it transformed my life. It was a starting point for many of us, making us prospects for the Super Eagles. When I looked back to where I was coming from and saw where I was going, I began to work hard to be in the Under-20 team and the Super Eagles.

 The Olympic victory meant more to us than what people thought. It was like we won the World Cup because it was the first time an African country would win it. Being a national hero and an African hero would definitely have an effect in ones life. It made us feel like we were among the top people in the continent.

Do you still reach out to your former teammates at the U-17 and U-23 levels?

Yes, we still communicate and try to do things together. Some of us have tried to come up with competitions to help younger players achieve their dreams in football. We spent a long time together playing in the Golden Eaglets and in the Olympic team before featuring in the Super Eagles. We just can’t pretend we don’t have anything in common again after those years.

What became of the gold medals?

I still have them; I deposited them at a bank for security reasons. I don’t want them to attract thieves to my house. The level of insecurity is high in the country and I would be foolish to keep such medals in the house where everyone could see.

Did winning the medals change your life in any way?

When we were younger, we were like nobody in the community. I may not have been known at all if I had not won those competitions with Nigeria. There was nothing available then that would have taken me to where I am today. When I look back to where I was coming from and what I was, I give glory to God for leading me on this path.

You didn’t get to play many games at the senior level despite joining the Super Eagles early?

It was crazy. But one thing people may not know about the World Cup is that it is full of cash for the team; there’s so much money available to everyone that features. The World Cup is the peak of events where you can make most money while in the national team. The coaches and the administrators know this so they bring in players that they know they can make money from. But for me, I don’t know how to give bribe to influence the coach’s selection or buy favours from administrators. I’ve never done it in my life; instead coaches I played for gave me money for impressive displays.

 At the World Cup level, everyone is interested in what he can get. In Nigeria, World Cup is about the money. Before the 1998 World Cup, I was a regular in the team as we played the qualifiers but after qualification, different players were invited to fill our spaces and pushed some of us to the background. It was due to this injustice that I was not a regular player in the team.

Are you saying your refusal to bribe coaches also caused the snub at later competitions like the 2002 World Cup?

Yes. Everyone knew the team that played at the 2002 World Cup were not the ones that should be there. When they came back empty-handed, it was expected because they were the wrong set of players. What puts me off in Nigerian football is the bribery issue between players and coaches and this has affected our game adversely.

Why do some of your colleagues shy away from addressing this issue?

I don’t know why. I can say it the way it happened because I never bribed anyone to play for Nigeria. I can say it anywhere because I’m not into this corruption that is killing our football.

Why did you leave the national team when you did?

I was ignored because I was not ready to influence coaches. And as Nigeria changed coaches, new players were introduced. The new coach wanted to promote his interest by bringing his own players. Many other players were ignored in this process and the team lost its strength. Added to this, in 2002 my knee injury aggravated while playing in the United States, so it limited my activity in football. I was more concerned with recovering from the knee injury I had.

The injury appeared to be the major reason you left football very early.

Yes, and it hurts a lot knowing that I was in my prime when the injury reoccurred. I first sustained the injury while playing at the Atlanta’96 Olympics. But the injury did not worry me because I was young and thinking I could recover without any problem. In 2002, the injury was back after some rough tackles and it kept me from playing topflight football.

Did the Nigeria Football Association help you out after having the injury at the Olympics?

The NFA didn’t do anything. They knew I was injured but they believed I was making a quick recovery. I didn’t’ want anyone to know how serious the injury was because it might mean the last time I would play for Nigeria. I had to play with the injury for all those years just to play for Nigeria. It was not a big problem for me as a young player but as I got older it began to show.

Which of the coaches did you enjoy playing for?

Jo Bonfrere was the best coach I’ve ever worked with. Whenever he asked you to do something, he would do it first to prove to you that he could and that he meant business. I think every player who played under Bonfrere knows this about him. He’s one of the best coaches Nigeria ever had; he was not biased and gave directions to many of us while playing for him.

What were you trying to achieve when you decided to play in the Nigerian league after playing abroad?

I was not trying to play my way into the national team again; I only wanted to keep fit and also experience the local league. That period, Daniel Amokachi was the coach of Nasarawa United so I called him up to give me a trial. He was happy with what he saw so I played for them for awhile. The league was full of officiating problems which made it not interesting but I wanted to see things for myself and not be told of what the league looked like. After playing with Nasarawa, Enyimba called for my service so I went to Aba to play between 2008 and 2010. I discovered, however, that the Nigerian league was so rotten and not designed to grow. I couldn’t live with that so I had to leave.

Who did you try to emulate when you played?

I never tried to emulate anybody. I played the way each game dictated. I loved watching good players and commended them, but I didn’t fashion my playing style after anyone. However, I had someone I used to adore in Owerri back then, that was Sylvester Oparanozie a.k.a Bahama, a utility player. He played in almost every position and I considered him as one of the best players in Nigeria.

The Golden Eaglets just won the 2013 U-17 World Cup. Do you think they should have a shot at the senior team just yet?

One thing we don’t do well in Nigerian football is continuity. People are saying they should be moved to the Super Eagles, forgetting that the U-17 level is just a platform to get the players prepared for the challenge in the future. People fail to realise that some of these players will move to Europe, while some will stay back in Nigeria. Some will play at the highest level, while the rest will not play beyond the Flying Eagles. Their future will also depend on the decision of the coach that will handle the senior team. So many factors will come into play that will not make the team play together again.

Was this what happened to your team when you won the Japan’93 U-17 World Cup?

The time we were supposed to move up to the U-20 team, the coach decided to select another set of players. That was the era of the ‘Wobbling and Fumbling’. When Fanny Amun was made the Flying Eagles coach ahead of the 1995 U-20 World Cup, he decided not to use our team because many of us were already playing in Europe. He preferred instead to use home-based players for the qualifiers. We were in Europe when we learnt the team had crashed out of the competition. Nigeria should have learnt from the mistakes of that year. That was what made us missed out on the U-20 World Cup in 1995; he shattered our dream. And we could have won the tournament had we played the World Cup.