Bonfrere: How We Ruled The World!

Exactly 10 years ago, Dutchman Johannes Bonfrere led Nigeria to win Africa’s first Olympic soccer gold medal. In this revealing interview, Bonfrere opens up on the full story of the Atlanta ’96 golden feat to DARE ESAN, editor of Nigeriansportsonline.com sister publication, Complete Sports. Mr Bonfrere, it’s now a decade since you led Nigeria to the soccer gold of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. How do you feel 10 years on?So it’s 10 years already. That was a great achievement but we also worked very hard to achieve this achievement. We had lots of players who were ready to work very hard. When you have a coach who likes to work very hard at improving his players then it is only logical that you achieve something.Winning the gold medal was a remarkable feat but it wasn’t just important for Nigeria alone as it was also important for the whole of Africa as we put not only Nigeria on the world map of soccer, but we put also Africa on the map.I feel very happy to have reached that height, that level, with Nigeria and the players I worked with throughout my stay in Nigeria. I enjoyed my time in Nigeria as we achieved a lot of good results because we liked to work very hard.Looking back to your team’s success at the 1996 Olympic games, do you recollect the 3-1 loss to Togo in a friendly in Lagos prior to the Olympics?Yeah, I do. I remember that one.Nigerians would want to know how the team prepared for the Olympics and the impact that 3-1 loss to Togo had on the team?It had a positive impact on the team because we had already planned to go for a training camp in the USA to prepare ourselves for the Olympic games, which was our target. The loss didn’t have a negative impact on the team because, whether we had won or lost that game, we already knew what we had planned to do. We knew what the players could do, we knew what we could do together. So therefore, we were not afraid of nobody. And I tell it again, if you prepare Nigerian players very well for one month or six weeks in a training camp they can play against any team in the world and beat any team in the world. Even now, if you put them in a training camp they will beat anybody. That’s Nigeria for you.There were certain decisions that you took that set you against the then sports minister, Jim Nwobodo, and one of these decisions had to do with your inclusion of Daniel Amokachi in the squad after the minister had clearly stated his preference for Finidi George as one of the three over-aged players permissible in the squad?I remember that quite clearly and it was not easy for we to fight against the then sports minister to make my selection but I told him (Nwobodo) that I am the coach and that I would make my selection, I told him Finidi is a very good player but I didn’t need Finidi in the team; that I required another player.But why did you say you didn’t need Finidi George back then?Finidi, back then, was an excellent player, a world-class player. But he didn’t fit into my plans. Finidi was disappointed, of course, but to make the team stronger I used other players like (Tijani) Babangida. Of course, the sports minister was totally against it but that was not my problem.So what did the sports minister tell you after you led the team to the gold medal?Well, not much. But I remember him being angry at me for leading the team to the final and winning the gold. I guess he was hoping we would lose so that he could go ahead and sack me.There was also this talk that Sunday Oliseh was the team’s captain off the field of play rather than Nwankwo Kanu, whom everybody saw as the team’s captain on the pitch?No, Kanu was our captain, And a captain is a captain if he is accepted by all the players. And all the players had accepted Kanu on that time, and when there was a problem the players came together to solve the problems.So Oliseh wasn’t actually playing the captain’s role?Yes, Kanu was the captain both on and off the field. Somebody has to be the captain and if you respect your captain as well as all your team-mates then there is no problem in the team. And that was our advantage in the group because everybody knew the qualities of the other and accepted each other. Of course, the players who were not playing were despondent but the final result was good.So tell us, was that team built around any particular player, probably Kanu, who was quiet instrumental to the team’s overall success with a string of fine displays?No, not at all. I don’t build the team around any player. Rather, I tried to build up a team without any identifiable key player. In my mind I always had my starting line-up for every game and always try to field the strongest line-up possible. But in case something goes wrong, like it can sometimes during the course of a game, I have a substitute ready on the bench who has the support and the respect of his team-mates. That was how my team was. It wasn’t built around anyone.Your most memorable victory in Atlanta undoubtedly, was the semi-final victory over Brazil. Considering the fact that your team lost to that same Brazilian side in the group stages were you scared of coming up against them in the semi-finals?No, we were not afraid because I know my players. I know my team, and I told my players, even when we were 3-1 behind in the half-final game against Brazil that we would win this game. I told them at half-time that we would win this game because we had played much better and could play much, much better and that Brazil had just been lucky to have scored their goals. I told them these and they went out there and got the result.So, Mr Bonfrere, which match would you say was the most difficult match for you in Atlanta?That has to be the final game against Argentina because it was the final. If you lose a final then you’re second and second is nothing. I know most Nigerians would still have been happy even if we had not won the game but I told my players before the final against Argentina that second-place was already in their hands, that the silver medals were already theirs; that we just had to go for the gold. And I also told my players the strenghts and weaknesses of Argentina.If you look back at the way you prepared the team then and the support you had from the NFA and when you came back in 2000 and the support you also had from the NFA. How would you describe the NFA in those two periods?The football association in Nigeria has to do much more to support the coach especially now that Nigerian football is well known the world over. If they had supported me much more than they did when I was working for Nigeria, I think Nigeria would have been among the top teams in the world by now. I also think that we would have done much, much better in the World Cup in France (1998), in Japan (2002) and also in the last World Cup in Germany. But I didn’t get the support from the NFA to improve my team, my players, my organisation, and my accommodation. We did everything by ourselves but normally you ought to get all these from the football association. But overall the support I got during my first stint in Nigeria was better than the one I got during my second stint.Many people felt the Nigerian team that featured at the last Cup of Nations in Egypt would have fared better than a lot of other teams, especially the African teams, in Germany. Do you agree with that?The Nigerian team could have done better but only if there was good team selection in the first place. If they train together for a longtime and the right team selection is made then that team in Egypt could have done very well in Germany.A lot of Nigerians are, believe it or not, still clamouring for your return. If you’re asked to come back to Nigeria today would you accept?I would accept, I would definitely accept but only with a good organisation behind me because, like I told you earlier, and I’ll tell you again as I firmly believe it, if you train the Nigerian team for four to six weeks in a training camp and we have to go to a tournament like the World Cup I will not be afraid to come up against any team in the whole world because I know the average Nigerian player. I know they have good technique. I know they are strong, fast and have more qualities than the average European player. But the problem is that you have to teach them how they have to play and not to hesitate in telling the star players what they have to do when the game starts or even on the training pitch. And that’s what I did in 1996 as I told all my big players how I wanted them to play. We were one family in 1996.But reports had it that some of these big players sabotaged your efforts during the qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup...(cuts in) Together with my staff; my technical crew.You were aware of all these?I was aware of all these but I was alone. Next time, if I have to work in Nigeria again, I will take my assistant coach from outside Nigeria so that I can at least have somebody who can support me.My assistants, (Shuaibu) Amodu and (Stephen) Keshi, didn’t give me the necessary support. But the problem you have in Nigeria is that some players and some technical crew members, and NFA board members, were working together. If I dump a player from the team because he doesn’t have the qualities, in my view, required to play in the first-team, this player will either go to my technical crew or the board members and give them money to support him. Personally, I detest this approach because I don’t need money to field a player. I field players based on their qualities. If you’re good you play, if you’re not good you don’t play.Keshi, one of your assistants, went on to handle the Togolese national team before he was sacked following Togo’s poor showing at the Egypt 2006 Cup of Nations. Would you say you were surprised by his sack?No. I was not surprised that he was sacked because I saw Togo playing in Egypt and Togo played very bad football and the instructions from the lines by Keshi didn’t yield any results. He qualified them for the World Cup but the players didn’t listen to him when he was coaching from the line in Egypt. They didn’t respect him anymore.So Mr. Bonfrere, throughout your stay in Nigeria, who would you say was your best Eagles player?That’s a tough one. I had so many excellent players and they’re just too numerous to mention. (Daniel) Amokachi was one of my favourite players. He was a great attacker and team leader. Celestine Babayaro was also a good player eventhough he doesn’t play anymore for the team. Wilson Oruma was also a good player but Amokachi was always playing for the team. He was a team player and he was always working very hard for the teamSo you’re saying Amokachi was your best player?Yes. He was never afraid to say what’s on his mind and he was never afraid to do anything. I saw him in Egypt together with Augustine (Eguavoen) and Samson Siasia and I hope he becomes a successful coach.You qualified South Korea for the World Cup but you resigned from your position a few months ago. Why did you decide to dump the Koreans?I had the same problems in South Korea as I had in Nigeria with Jim Nwobodo. I like to make my selection but the South Korean sports minister wants to always tell me who I have to put in the team and how I have to play so I resigned five months before the World cup.You said earlier that good organisation within the NFA would be vital if you have to return to coaching the Nigerian team. If you have all that, what are you promising Nigerians?It’s possible, why not, for me to return as Nigeria’s coach but you truly need a good organisation. You need to build from the bottom to the top and not the other way around. In 1996 we built up Nigeria and then two years after that, in France, everything came crashing down. If you build something up it is more difficult to keep it at this level than to go down. Nigeria has to build up step-by-step especially now that Africa will be hosting the next World Cup. If Nigeria wants to excel in 2010 in South Africa, you have to start building a good Olympics team now, qualify for the Olympics, go to China and play very well in the Olympics, and from that Olympics team you pick up some good players who will form the core of the team for South Africa 2010. That is planning, and for good planning you need good organisation.Thank you very much for your time Mr. Bonfrere.You are welcome.The Glory BoyzJOSEPH DOSU (Julius Berger, Lagos). Goalkeeper. Born 19.06.73 Aged 23. His very first international outing for Nigeria.MOBI OPARAKU (KFC Turnout, Belgium). Right full-back. Born 01.12.76. Aged 20. Member of Nigeria’s world U-17 title winning team in Japan ’93 and hero of the U-23 bronze-winning team at the 6th All-African Games in Harare ‘95.CELESTINE BABAYARO (Anderlecht, Belgium). Left full-back. Born 28.08.78. Aged 18. Member of Japan ’93 Golden Eaglets. A brilliant player who fulfilled all expectations and more at Atlanta ’96. Capped excellent tournament with two brilliant goals against Mexico and Argentina and got credit for forcing Brazil to concede an own goal in the semifinal.TARIBO WEST (Auxerre, France). Stopper. Born 26.03.74. Aged 22. Member of Nigeria’s U-20 (Flying Eagles) team to Mauritius ’93 African Youth Championship.UCHE OKECHUKWU (Fenerbahce, Turkey). Stopper. Born 27.09.67. Aged 29. One of the three over-aged players in the Nigerian team. Member of the Super Eagles to Algiers ’90, Senegal ’92 and Tunisia ’94 Nations Cup, and the USA ’94 World Cup.SUNDAY OLISEH (Cologne, Germany). Midfielder, Born 14.09.74. Aged 22. Member of the Super Eagles to Tunisia ’94 and USA ’94, but could not produce a similar level of performance at Atlanta. Red-carded against Mexico and missed the semi-final versus Brazil.AUSTIN JAY JAY OKOCHA (Fenerbahce, Turkey). Midfielder. Born 14.08.73. Aged 23. Member of the U-20 team to Mauritius ’93 and the Super Eagles to Tunisia ’94 and USA ’94. Scored against Japan and Mexico, but lost penalty against Brazil in the semi-final.GARBA LAWAL (Esperance, Tunisia). Midfielder. Born 22.05.74. Aged 22. A member of Nigeria’s Flying Eagles to Mauritius ’93. One of team handler Jo Bonfrere’s controversial selections.TIJANI BABANGIDA (Ajax Amsterdam, Holland). Forward. Born 25.09.73. Aged 23. Member of the team to Egypt ’91 All-African Games, Mauritius ’93 and barely missed out of the squad to USA ’94.EMMANUEL AMUNEKE (Sporting Lisbon, Portugal). Forward. Born 25.12.70. Aged 26. Another over-aged member of the squad. Was at Egypt ’91, Tunisia ’94 and USA ’94 and performed excellently in all to become African player of the year 1994.NWANKWO KANU (Inter Milan, Italy). Forward. Born 01.08.76. Aged 20. Member of Golden Eaglets to Japan ‘93. Team captain at the Olympics and highest scorer with one goal against Japan and the crucial two in the semi-final against Brazil.DANIEL AMOKACHI (Besiktas, Turkey), Forward. Born 30.12.72. Aged 24. The third over-aged player in the squad. His inclusion was most widely criticsed by local fans, but he turned out to be their hero with his work-a-holic style which saw him having a hand in nearly all Nigeria’s goals at the Olympics.VICTOR IKPEBA (Monaco, France). Forward. Born 12.06.73. Aged 23. Member of the Gold Eaglets at Scotland ‘89; member of the Super Eagles to Senegal ‘92, Tunisia ‘94 and USA ‘94 although he is still looking to the down a regular place.WILSON ORUMA (Lens, France). Member, Born 30.12.76. Aged 20. Captain of the Golden Eaglets to Japan ‘93 and top scorer with six goals.TESLIM FATUSI (Ferencvaros, Hungary). Forward. Born 17.09.77. Aged 21. Member of the U-20 team to Mauritius ‘93. The highest scorer in the Olympic team prior to Atlanta ‘96, but couldn’t find a starting shirt at the finals.ABIODUN OBAFEMI (Toulouse, France). Defender. Born 25.12.73. Aged 23. Member of the team to Mauritius ‘93. A natural centre-back, he was played at right-back in place of Oparaku during the last lap of the qualifiers but Oparaku won his place back at the Olympics.KINGSLEY OBIEKWU (Go Ahead Eagles, Holland). Defender, Born 12.11.74. Aged 22. Captain of the U-23 team to the 6th All-African Games in Harare ‘95. Scored a brilliant goal in Lagos in the 3-2 win over Egypt in a qualifying match for Atlanta.EMMANUEL BABAYARO (Plateau United, Jos). Goalkeeper. Born 26.12.76. Aged 20. Originally the first choice goalkeeper of the team during the qualifiers. A shoulder injury, however, terminated his reign and he was never able to recover his position.