Westerhof: I regret dumping Nigeria after USA ’94

If self-proclaimed Dutchgerian, Clemens Westerhof, got another chance to decide, he would not have left his position as coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria after the successful World Cup campaign in the United States in 1994.

Grouped alongside mighty Argentina, eventual semi-finalists Bulgaria, and Greece, Westerhof’s team managed to top the group to qualify for the second round against the prediction of pundits. Losing 1-2 to Argentina, Nigeria spanked Bulgaria 3-nil and Greece 2-nil.

The team was two minutes away from a historic quarter-final place when — in the second-round encounter against Italy — Roberto Baggio scored an equaliser and then topped it with a penalty goal 10 minutes into extra time. Not only was it game over for Nigeria, it was also game over for Westerhof, who thought after five years in the saddle, it was time for a fresh challenge.

But reminiscing on his term as Nigeria’s coach during an exclusive interview with TheCable, the former MVV Maastricht, Vitesse Arnham and Feyenoord coach admits that leaving the Eagles was an ill-thought-out decision.

“One of the biggest mistakes I made before the World Cup in USA 1994 was telling Nigerians that there will be two planes leaving America after the World Cup — that one will be heading for Lagos while the other will be leaving for Amsterdam, that I would be boarding the one going to Amsterdam because five years is enough for me in Nigeria,” the 74-year-old says.

“It was a mistake, like I was in fact telling them even before the World Cup that I had already resigned before the World Cup — that I had done everything, that I had done enough and fulfilled the promise and I go home. Five years in Nigeria is like 10 years of my life.”

Now Rector and Chief Administrator of School of Excellence, Ilorin, Kwara State, Westerhof’s love for Nigeria is intense and palpable, and he is always quick to discuss the national team and positively analyse its chances of lifting any major tournament.

For next month’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil, he believes, as usual, that Nigeria can have a very successful tournament, in fact overhauling the second-round record he set in 1994, which has remained unequalled despite three more World Cup appearances.

The first step, he reckons, is for the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to give Stephen Keshi (his captain, who is now the coach) unfettered control over team selection.

“Stephen Keshi is the boss; he decides who plays at the World Cup; he decides which team he picks,” says Westerhof, who waEagles coach from 1989 to 1994, playing a total 52 games — winning 27, drawing 13, and losing 12.

“Let Keshi do the job. The NFF must not interfere; they must not decide for him, [because] Keshi takes responsibility [for the success or failure of the team]. He has already achieved results so far by winning the African Cup of Nations Cup, and qualifying for the World Cup.

“They have qualified now again for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Stephen Keshi won the African Cup of Nations in South-Africa, so he has done exactly what I did; and it is a great year, as Nigeria also won the FIFA U-17 World Cup, so Keshi must go further now and do better than what I did at the World Cup. He must get to, at least, the quarter-finals. And then maybe, if he has maybe the right team, the right players, the right combination, then they can make it to the last four.”

This last-four optimism he hinges on the contemporary dynamism of the game, far from what obtained 20 years ago when he led Nigeria to the World Cup.

“There are now so many Nigerian players abroad than in my time. In my time, there were maybe 10 to 12 players. But now, there are hundreds overseas,” he says.

“If Keshi takes the right ones — there are few of them in the biggest leagues in Italy, in England, in Germany, in Spain, in Belgium — and makes the right combination of the best, the team who wants to fight for one another, who wants to fight for the results and not just play for individual glory, and if the discipline is right, then Nigeria can get to the last four.”

Westerhof punctures pessimism stemming from the bench role of the many Super Eagles players at their clubs, saying team organisation and tactical preparedness are far more important.

“If you play for one of the biggest Clubs in England, in Europe, Chelsea, maybe you don’t get to play in all of the games. Coach Jose Mourinho makes his selections game-by-game; he makes tactical selections of his players.

“If you see Mikel play with Frank Lampard, you marvel at the organisation of the midfield, and people say all sorts of things about him parking the bus and all, but then it’s the results that matters. Although now that he has lost at home to Atletico Madrid and he is out of the UEFA Champions League, people will come up with all sorts of stories.

“But I tell you, Mourinho is one of the best coaches in the world. Look at Pep Gourdiola, all the noise about how great he is, his Bayern Munich was beaten 4-0 at home in the Champions League by  Real Madrid. So what are we talking about?”

Returning to the World Cup, he insists that a semi-final appearance is not as arduous as it has been made to look.

“The Super Eagles can get to the semi-finals of the World Cup in Brazil if the NFF does not interfere, and if Keshi can make one family out of the team,” Westerhof enthuses.

“If the players want to play for Nigeria and not play for personal glory, and not for selfish interest, they can go far. Nigeria has good players, but the most important thing is to make a combination of good players, to make good team out of good players.”