By Amaechi Agbo

To millions of Nigerians who had expected the Golden Eaglets to stake a claim at the 2019 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations which climaxes on Sunday in Tanzania, their disappointment on the total lack of hunger among the players in their group matches in the championship, should not lie deep, Bestchoicesports.com.ng Editor, Amaechi Agbo writes.

It was Walter Rodney in his masterpiece, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa that captures the essence of what is playing out currently in Nigeria football with particular reference to underaged categories of the round leather game.

After the Golden Eaglets qualified for the 2019 Brazil World Cup, coach of the side, Manu Garba declared during post match press conference that the first objective had been achieved and then switched attention to winning the trophy which was never to be (at least for now if NFF’s appeal for disqualification of Guinea gets favourable nod).

Prior to the commencement of the championship, a disgruntled Garba had cried out to the world that the Nigeria Football Federation had neglected the team.

Following the outcry and the media outrage, NFF woke up from its nap and hurriedly organised MRI test for the players few days to the tournament, a move that put the coaching crew in disarray as several key players were dropped with relative or no time to replace them.

When Garba cried out over abandonment by the NFF, many thought it was as a result of not conducting the MRI test on time. Perhaps, that was part of it but investigations by this paper have revealed that Garba cried for total lack of support from the Glass House, especially financially.

After putting up a somewhat promising performance against the host team in the opening match in Tanzania, the team struggled in their next two matches including a semi-final clash with Guinea which they lost via penalty shootout.

Ahead of the semi-final match, Bestchoicesports.com.ng scooped that the Golden Eaglets camp was in disarray as a result of interference by the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation.

A board member of the NFF was recently in touch with the team and blasted the coaches for not recruiting the best players and taking substandard players to Tanzania.

If he had his way, the football administrator based in the country’s financial capital vowed to drop ninety five percent of the players named on the roster for the 2019 U17 AFCON and it has been suggested that he is preparing the Zenith Bank U15 Boys to replace majority of the players, according to All Nigeria Soccer.

Ostensibly, the players played the semi-final match demoralised because they have not received a single dime from the NFF as match bonuses and camp allowances, and they were also criticised for their lackadaisical performance in their first three games.

A source within the camp of the Eaglets told this paper that “Look, I doubt if they have paid the chief coach since the team started camp in Abuja. You know that apart from the chief coach, other assistants are not on pay roll. But the truth of the matter is that the players and coaches are suffering. They have not been paid since they started camp and nobody is saying anything,” the source said anonymously.

A top Nigerian Federation official who visited the team in Tanzania last week had promised the players fifty dollars per day as camp allowance.