The desire of every Nigerian home and abroad is to see the Super Eagles win the next African Cup of Nations, AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire in January.

The last time they won the trophy was 10 years when in South Africa in 2013 with late Stephen Keshi as the chief coach.

However, all attempts to win the AFCON again have proven to be very difficult. Many people are wondering why the Super Eagles with its array of stars cannot get to the final stage let alone lift the trophy.

Meanwhile, after carrying out some researches, our correspondent takes a look at why they have not been able to win it again and how the Eagles coach by Jose Peseiro can lift the trophy again. They are as follows:

* Early preparation/more friendly matches
There is no doubt that early preparation is needed especially since the players have not had enough time to train together because of club engagements. The only time they train together is when they assemble for either friendly matches, world or AFCON qualifiers.
The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF has done well in the area of friendly matches but more are needed. There is need for the Eagles to play “weak” and strong footballing nations. The weaker nations will help the coach to know the team’s strength and probably boost the confidence of the players while the strong matches will help him to know his weaknesses.

* Right selection of players
This is one of the important aspect and probably one of the factors that will determine whether a team will lift the trophy or not. If the coach select the right sets of players who are good, fit and intellectually sound, they are good to go. The coach must make the team competitive, that is, the first team should be as good as the ones on the bench. He must not select players based on sentiment otherwise, he will pay dearly for it in subsequent matches. Politicians should also do away with their political players if their wish is for the Super Eagles to win the next AFCON.

* Planning
It is said in the local parlance, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” The technical crew must sit down to plan, look at the teams in their group and check out the ones that will prove difficult and if possible avoid losing. The worst result they should target from such difficult teams, e.g. Cote d’ivoire, is a draw while they must aspire to win the remaining matches. Planning is very important, they must not go to the AFCON without planning, it is risky. Planning will determine how they would approach every match. How they intend to start the match, in the second half and towards the end.

* Early arrival
The NFF and coach should not tolerate late arrival for players, it could distupt the programme of the coach. It is like a student who arrives late to class and the lecturer starting all over again. Early arrival will help the coach to go into tactical play early enough and that will help the team to perfect their game plans on time.

* Less Interference
Frequent interference from external bodies have been the bane of the team especially those who have never sat down in a classroom to take lecture on football for once. If at all there must be contributions, it should be from technical persons. If the coach is not good enough to handle the team, then he shouldn’t have been given the responsibility in the first place hence the need for less Interference. When there are interferences, the coach looses confidences and that will adversely affect the players and the team at large.

* Required number of professional staff
Some people might want to argue this but it is one of the requirements for a team to do well. For instance, if there is no food nutritionist in the team, the players might end up eating junk or heavy food which might affect their performances.
There is also need to have a sound psychologist in the team, the work should not be left in the hand of the coach even though coaches are psychologists too. That responsibility should be handled by a qualified person so that the coach can concentrate on the tactical aspect.

* Less distraction
During the last AFCON in Cameroun, it was one of the things that distracted the team. Less concentration on social media will help. Although, scouts are common in the junior National Teams but some of them still find their ways into the Eagles camp for reasons best known to them. Unwanted visitors like female visitors are the greatest distractions, even if the players are not interested, they are lured into it with their antics. If there must be female visitors, it should be the wives of the players, for those that are married but they should be able to keep to themselves within the period.

We have had cases in the past where players accused themselves of sleeping with women before match and get tired on the pitch. Not forgetting in a hurry, France 1998 World Cup where Taribo West made some confessions that they lost the Denmark game because some of his teammates sneak women into the team’s camp. After topping Group D with six points from three games, ahead of Paraguay, Spain and Bulgaria, they were paired against Group C runners-up Denmark in the Round of 16 where they were eventually knocked out after a 4-1 defeat at Stade de France.

West blamed fatigue and complacency for the defeat after some players slept with women before a crucial match. According to him, “What I know is that some players sneaked women into camp, I saw that. The women were Africans who came to watch the tournament and fell in love with our team, because of the way we played in the group stage. So, it was easy for these players to woo them into their rooms.” They should be allowed to rest well and recreate within their camp.

Another distraction is the promise made to players, for instance, promising to give money to any player that score a goal, of course, it will cause selfishness in the team, everybody want to score including defenders and goalkeeper.

Nobody should promise anything until after they have lifted the trophy. This is common among corporate bodies, they adopt ambush marketing when they discover that the team is doing well by promising them huge incentives that supposed to come when they are preparing for the tournament.

Praise singers, politicians, relatives are also part of the people causing distraction especially when the team is winning. These guys are on national duties and should be allowed to concentrate. If we really want to win the AFCON, then the players should be allowed to concentrate fully.