Broadcasters
Last night, just as I was preparing to retire for the night after watching a great display of attacking football by the Super Eagles, the title of an old, evergreen song by Tom Jones crept into my mind: ‘The Green, Green Grass of Home’.
Before you read the rest of this posting, I suggest you search for and savor the melody of the song! It will lead you into my thoughts after the match.
The performance, last night, was superb. It left no one in doubt that the Super Eagles are on their way back to greatness! The evidence was in their confident display.
What was it that made the difference for a group of great players that have not been able, for some years, to find their rhythm as a team, and have been struggling to win even the easiest of matches on home soil?
The answer is so simple, it is too good to be true. There are several other factors contributing to some scintillating performances in Morocco, so far, but the single most important but least acknowledged, is the immaculate playing surface!
Unfortunately, even the commentators and analysts fail to acknowledge it. Yet, it stares everyone watching in the face!
Last night, for the total duration of that great match, the world witnessed how the Eagles put up a virtuoso performance on one of the best playing turfs in the world, presently!
That’s it. Morocco has invested in constructing the best football pitches in the world – lush green, perfectly flat, manicured grass fields that provide the surface for the best players in the world to showcase their skills and play their best football.
These pitches are all over Morocco. They do not have, or tolerate, a single patch of an uneven grass surface, making every move and every pass a work of art!
That’s what the Uyo Township stadium lacks. It is the ‘best’ facility in Nigeria, but from close examination it is planet away from what AFCON 2023 in Cote D’Ivoire and AFCON 2025 in Morocco offer.
Nigeria should now take the bull by the horn, remove the wool from her face, get rid of pretenders that do not know why they should invest in constructing the best grass surfaces in all the major stadia around Nigeria, with a maintenance regimen that will sustain it.
Thanks Morocco for the green, green grass that has made AFCON 2025 home for the Super Eagles!
Our Reporter
