No Excuses For Danjuma this time around.
I am worried, genuinely worried.
You see, there's one thing I massively respect 60 years old Coach Chris Danjuma for: his ability to assemble supremely fit and exceptionally talented teams to compete at the highest level.
I am still at awe of the flair, craftswomanship and attractive curb appeal of his squad compositions to the last world cup and most recent African competitions. Yet he struggled to tactically lift them to the pinnacle of success their potentials merit and their talents deserve.
At least, in the last 3 tournaments he presided over from 2022, I had expected a podium finish at the World Cup and at least one Gold from the two continental tournaments but his tactical injections failed to raised the profile of his teams'performances high enough to pluck those lofty and leafy gains
He is now trying to put his outcome where his mouth is,striving for a podium finish in this world cup.
"I think we are closing in on our goal (of a podium finish at this world cup)", said Danjuma.
“We are confident that now is the right time to (at the very least) emulate the remarkable accomplishments of second place finishings of the 2010 and 2014 Falconets squad", said Danjuma [paraphrased].
Earlier in tournaments, Danjuma's Falconets always seem to produce performances that capture my imagination and lock it in place for the duration, only to fall off the cliff in business end, leaving me red faced, fuming and frustrated.
Like your quintessential Nigerian Coach, Danjuma appears to become clueless, catatonic, and comatose once his initial winning formula is discovered, decoded,and ultimately decimated. His team would lose their discipline, bite and focus whilst any tactical burst of inspiration left would have evaporated from Danjuma's brain leading to unfulfilled ambitions and unrealised potentials.
These unwanted appurtenances were evident in Final loses against Ghana on the continent and quarter final collapse at the last world cup against Holland.
I now pray Danjuma has used those experiences to lay the foundation stone of a more prudent, focused and expedient approach in similar situations in future. And he genuinely appears to emit an air of enhanced confidence this time around which I pray transfers onto the pitch in latter stages of this year’s World Cup.
Just as he is able to get his girls play akin to the mechanics and movements of a fine Rolex watch in earlier stages of competitions, he should be able to get them to knuckle down, batten down the hatches and see things through with grit, focus and determination in the latter stages.
Because I genuinely believe his girls can cross over the finish line with the right sort of mental preparedness, tactical approach and flawless applications.
Perhaps, those delicious tactical injections as sweet as a mouth full of Baileys on a velvet tongue earlier stages in tournaments should be refined with the sort of coffee that produces and retains alertness, thereby eliminating the sort of costly mistakes Tosin Demehin made in the quarter final against Holland 2 years ago despite her flawless group stage performances (or the disastrous headless chicken penalty Flourish Sabastine gave away in the Wafu final against Ghana and the team's subsequent paralysis in penalty kicks).
Yes, I know I am going on and on about it but it was painful to see tactically voluptuous and opulent teams assembled by Danjuma fail at the last hurdle.
I hope this time will be different.
Good luck to the Falconets!
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