decade ago Nigeria was an emblem in international soccer. They had an array of World Class stars; most notable names include Ex. Captain Sunday Oliseh, Taribo West, Finidi George, Tijiani Babangida, and mercurial maestro Jay Jay Okocha. Winning African Nations Cup in 1994, Olympic Gold in 1996 and finishing second place in a controversial Final of the African Nations Cup 2000 sums the story of the Nigerian Golden Era of football domination.

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But since the unceremonious departure of Former Captain Sunday Oliseh, and his deputy Finidi George along and the overhaul of players who qualified the country for the 2002 World Cup held in Japan, the team has been free falling. Seven years ago, Nigeria had a World Class team, and today, the team is anything but World Class struggling to not repeat the same mistakes it did when they surprising missed out on the World Cup 2006 to debutants Angola.

The current team is simply not good enough to take Nigeria to new heights. The Nigerian team that played in the African Nations Cup 2008 edition was eliminated in a quarterfinal match, losing to ten man Ghana team. It was by far the worst showing at the African Cup of Nations for 25 years. Since then, little has been done to improve the Super Eagles of Nigeria to put them back in the driver's seat. Now Nigeria finds herself at the brink of missing a second consecutive World Cup even more the first World Cup to be staged on African Soil for the very first time.

Even if Nigeria qualifies for the World Cup it will only spell disaster, our coordination and movement of the ball needs a lot of work, our game is so predictable that our opponents can easily read our strategy and punish us.

The creativity is lacking seriously from the midfield and upfront, Adepoju, Okocha and Amuneke who used to turn an impenetrable defense inside out, are heavily missed, there has been no proper replacement since their departure. Strikers are not bold to take the game to the opponents and midfielders are want to pass the ball as quickly as they receive it, rather taking control of the ball and run at the defenders. Mikel Obi is a changed man since playing for Chelsea and plays more defensively, when there is already a defensive midfielder Olofinjana.

Another component lacking in the Nigerian team is style, in the days of Amokachi, Amuneke and Finidi, the Super Eagles had an explosive attack, and such was their attack that opponents would be camped in their half and defend without a moment of breath. Even our defenders would push up and score goals. The enormity of the attack was so, that Nigeria could score from anywhere on the field. Today the Nigerian team only scores in unfashionable occasions and sometimes by accident.

There is no character or leadership in the current squad, the only person that is leadership quality is the ever hard working Ozase Odemwingie who has shown commitment throughout the World Cup qualifiers campaign. Kanu the current captain of the Eagles has not made any serious impact on the team, the same Kanu who captained the Eagles to Olympic Gold in 96 is now far too docile. The team over all is more cautious about keeping possession of the ball then taking the game boldly to its opponents. We need players who can mesmerize their opponents and make our fans gasp for more; we need players who can cause anxiety disorders. Just look at the World Cup game in 1998 between Nigeria and Denmark, where television replays show the Danish Coach completely at a terrible of mind, even when the Danes were up 2 nil, one would think he was awaiting execution, eventually Denmark won that game 4-1 putting their coach back at ease.

In conclusion, before Nigeria can start talking big, they must work on rebuilding a team that will challenge the likes of Brazil and England, as well as dominate African soccer. Nigerians are quick to shout for Amodu's head, but is this not the same Amodu who made history when he came in to take charge after Coach Bonfrere, to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup in 2002? He became the first indigenous, local coach to make history and yet was not able to enjoy the fruits of his labor as he was sacked for petty reasons. Things like this will not help Nigeria become a world class soccer team. Let us support Amodu and whether Nigeria qualifies or not, the rebuilding process must begin now. That's the kind of change I can believe in and a change we need.