By Segun Odegbami (M.O.N.) 

For more than ten minutes after the match, I could not leave my seat in the magnificent National Stadium in Abuja last Wednesday, and it was not because the Eagles were roasted. Different emotions were racing through my mind.

It was hard not to be affected by the general reaction on the terraces as the minutes dragged towards the end of a match that brought Abuja almost to a standstill and attracted the at¬tention of Nigerians of all walks of life from all over the country, for an ordinary foot¬ball match tagged ‘match of the century’. The match lived up to its billing in every way except in the quality of opposition the Eagles put up. That people started leaving the stadium after Brazil's third goal was more a reaction to the bad advertisement of Nigerian football than to the result itself. Nige¬rian football was not at its best display on the night. The Eagles were simply outplayed in every department of the game on the night. Except, of course, in the masterful display of Jay Jay Okocha who won the hearts of all, including the Brazilians, with his champagne display.

The air around the stadium was that of dis¬appointment. The Eagles failed to lift their game to the standard of the Brazilians who were simply a delight to watch with their endless running into space, keeping the ball on the ground and quick interchange of passing. It was so basic, so elementary, and yet so effective, that I was happy for the benefit of the experience and the lessons Nigeria must learn from it. It was a conflict of emotions choosing be¬tween the brilliance of the Brazilians and the ordinary performance of the Eagles. At the end I decided not to spoil my evening by concentrating my thoughts on the memo¬rable parts of the 90 minutes of football tuto¬rial given by the Brazilians. Their performance left me breathless. It was a reminder that the beauty of football is in the simplicity of move¬ments. It was a game that showed the differ¬ence between Brazil and the rest of the world; why Brazil is still the best footballing country in the world; why Nigeria still has a long way to go to approach her best potentials in the game; why Nigeria needs to add to the technical depth of the senior national team as it sets its sights on higher goals and a more consistent style.

The ICFDS Training Course is taking place at Trinity and All Saints College in Leeds, UK.

Dr Thomas Olayia - NSSF president is here with us this week looking forward to introducing Futebol de Salao to all primary and secondary schools in Nigeria.

He believes that the experience needs to be shared with the Schools Sport Federation and Brazilian Soccer Schools. The programme will improve Grass Roots - football development in Nigeria.

Brazilian Soccer Schools (BSS) coaches from around the World gathered in Leeds for the annual International Confederation of Futebol de Salão (ICFDS) training week. The course, held at Trinity & All Saints College in Horsforth, was attended by Carlos Alberto Torres who captained Brazil’s 1970 World Cup-winning side and also managed several club and national teams including the Nigerian national side.

The focus of the week was on the updated BSS Skills Badge scheme which assesses the skills and techniques learnt within conventional BSS sessions.

The course contained both practical and theory-based sessions, with guest speakers including Alex Bellos, co-author of Pele’s autobiography, and Damian Hughes, the sport psychologist who authored ‘Liquid Thinking’.