By Patrick Omorodion
The buck passing game is here again. Each time the Super Eagles fail to impress, scape goats are always found by either the players or administrators, none ever want to accept blame for the poor performance of the team.

Even before they left for Coankry for the 2012 Nations Cup qualify, many of them, players and administrators alike, had an easy alibi, that they were distracted by the FIFA suspension of Nigeria, after the world body alleged government interference in the running of the game.

Even caretaker coach, Austin Eguavoen,  said he was confused about the whole suspension saga but was going ahead to prepare for the match until he heard from the NFA inteerim management team.

After all the FIFA brouhaha, the match was eventually played but what was displayed by the team was a sorry site, a departure from the aggressive Eagles Nigerians knew in the past, especially the 1994 to 1998 era.

Before the arrival of the invited professionals, Eguavoen had some home-based players training at the Abuja camp. He never told Nigerians they were incapable, even though he rued the unavailability of aggressive Osaze Odemwingie, who has won more fans since his arrival in the Premiership with West Brom.

A casual Eagles defence allowed attackers of the Syli Nationale of Guinea to stroll through their defence, marshalled by skipper, Joseph Yobo, like a knife through butter in the early hours of the match. Nigerians never bothered, believing that since it was an early goal, the Eagles will fight back and equalise and even win.

The team instead played without purpose, allowing the more agile Guineans to run rings around them. Even a one in a million chance that came the way of Mike Eneramuo was fluffed.

Surprisingly, the so-called professionals who played most part of the game are blaming the home-based players for their failure.

Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who rose from Enyimba of Aba to play for the Eagles at the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan threw the first stone, was bitter that home-based players were included in the team.

He even said that the NFA should use all home-based players to execute the rest matches, apparently referring to the clamour of more home-based players in the team. He failed to realise that the tempo of the game changed for the Eagles when two home-based players, Ahmed Musa and John Owoeri were introduced into the game.

While Eguavoen blamed the hot weather as well as the players for not lifting their game, acting secretary general Musa Amadu blamed the loss on the tactics employed by Eguavoen. James Peters also blamed Eguavoen for the poor show but added that Yobo also contributed by asking the plyers to drink Coca Cola before the game. What has a sip of Coke got to do with poor play?

Some others like Eneramou blamed the poor pitch even as Peters said the delayed caused by Eneramou when he forgot his training kit in the hotel also contributed.
The Nigeria Premier League (NPL) would however not take Enyeama’s statement lightly, condemning him as its media and publicity head, Emeka Nwani, floored the goalkeeper’s assertion that Nigerian-based players were to blame for the loss in Guinea.

Nwani was quoted by a website as saying that “Vincent Enyeama appears to have forgotten where he started his career from. I remember very well how he got to Enyimba and then coach Adegboye Onigbinde gave him his big break at the 2002 FIFA World Cup against England.

Maybe if Onigbinde had said then that home-based players were the problem of Nigerian football I wonder if he will be playing football in Israel.”

Nwani also reminded Enyeama that he should not forget that Super Eagles’ interim head coach, Austin Eguavoen, started 11 foreign-based players before bringing on two home-based, Ahmed Musa and John Owoeri, who are now primed to move abroad.

He said the duo of Musa and Owoeri brought about change in the attacking options of the Nigerian side against Guinea and wondered why Enyeama will not recognise that.