He was one of the exciting talents at the 1987 FIFA Under-17 World Cup but the world began to take more serious note of Dimeji Lawal’s talents when he helped Nigeria win silver at the Under-20 World Cup in Saudi Arabia two years later.
The left-sided midfielder was relatively unknown before hopping on the plane with his young colleagues for the long trip to North America, but the Golden Eaglets coach Brodricks Imasuen believed that Dimeji could be a potent weapon for his team in Canada as the left-footer had proved to be a gifted attacker in national youth tournaments.
And Dimeji is grateful to the youth development structure in the country which helped him in his career.
However, the retired player is not happy with the current state of Nigerian football and has expressed concern over the future of the sport in the country.
Dimeji was a regular starter for the Golden Eaglets at Canada ’87 – and his creativity up front helped Nigeria finish runners-up at the championship. Nigeria, who won the maiden edition of the tournament in China in 1985, lost 4-2 (in a penalty shootout) to Soviet Union in the final in Toronto on July 25, 1987.
Dimeji was only substituted once – in the Flying Eagles’ 1-0 defeat to Portugal in the group stages – at the Saudi ’89 Under-20 World Cup. He was a menace for defenders at the competition – and his telepathic understanding with Mutiu Adepoju, free-kick specialist Christopher Ohenhen, Christopher Nwosu and Anthony Emoedofu ensured that Nigeria were the first African team to reach the final of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup since inception in 1977 in Tunisia.
Nigeria met Portugal in the final of the Saudi ’89 tournament at the Sports Club Stadium in Riyadh on March 3, 1989 and lost 2-0 to the Europeans.
Although many Nigerians were disappointed by the defeat, they praised the team for their showing in the tournament. Dimeji was one of the players who received much attention from both the Nigerian and foreign media.
With the cacophony of cheers rising from his performance in Saudi Arabia, it came as no surprise that Spanish giants Real Madrid signed him alongside Mutiu Adepoju, who was one of the revelations of the tournament, for their B team shortly after their arrival in Nigeria.
Dimeji was promoted to the senior national team after the Under-20 World Cup along with Adepoju, Ugbade, Bawa Abudullahi and Tunde Charity (deceased).
But Dimeji failed to cement his place in the Super Eagles’ first team in his two-year stint with the side largely due to constant injuries.
He was forced to return to Nigeria to sign for Shooting Stars in 1991 after he could not break into Real Madrid senior just like Adepoju.
Then the great Madrid side boasted the likes of Hugo Sanchez, Robert Prosinecki, Gheorghe Hagi, Emilio Butragueno, Alfonso Perez and Luiz Henrique.
Dimeji also plied his trade in Belgium (with side K.V. Kortrijk) and South Africa (with Hellenic). Apart from Shooting Stars, he played for BCC Lions and Julius Berger.
The 43-year-old, who hung up his boots after helping Ibadan club Shooting Stars gain promotion back into the Premier League in 2009, laments Nigerian football’s sliding fortunes.
The FIFA licensed agent expressed fears that Nigeria could lose more ground on the continent after the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the just-ended Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.
Nigeria are currently placed 42nd in the world and seventh in Africa. They are trailing Senegal (sixth) Cape Verde (fifth), Tunisia (fourth), Ghana (third), Africa champions Ivory Coast (second) and Algeria (first) in the latest CAF FIFA rankings.
“It’s very unfortunate that the game is dying in Nigeria and the people managing it are not doing anything about it,” the former Julius Berger star told our correspondent.
“If we are not careful, football will leave us.
“We had an advantage over other countries on the continent (in the past) because we had players playing in Europe.
“The advantage has slipped away from us because many countries have good players plying their trade in Europe.
“Some of the smaller African countries have young players playing for big clubs in Europe, while our players are playing for smaller teams.
“We lack planning. The biggest problem with our football is that every Nigerian is a coach.
“There’s pressure on the coach to invite or drop certain players. We employ a coach for the Super Eagles and dictate to him how he trains his team and the methods to adopt.
“If coaches like (Chelsea manager) Jose Mourinho and (ex-Manchester United manager) Alex Ferguson are employed to manage the Super Eagles, they will struggle to succeed, because they will come under pressure from every Nigerian to invite or drop certain players.
“In Europe, the coach is in charge and he’s allowed to pick his players without interference from the media, fans and the administrators.
“He designs his programmes and runs them. He’s allowed to experiment with players and decides who is qualified to play for the team. But, In Nigeria, the coach is not allowed to do his job.
‘Stephen Keshi came under pressure from many Nigerians to select or drop certain players before the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
“Despite winning the tournament and helping the country qualify for the World Cup in Brazil last year, he was criticised by many Nigerians for the team’s approach to the qualifiers.
“We all know what happened before the World Cup and during the (2015) Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
“He was under pressure throughout. I doubt if Ferguson or Mourinho could survive the heat.”
He added, “We don’t plan for success. The qualifiers for the next Africa Cup of Nations will begin soon. But are we planning?
“Right now the Nigeria Football Federation is in disarray and Keshi’s future as Eagles coach remains uncertain.
“Many other countries have started their preparations for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
“We don’t plan early. But we wait until the last minute to prepare for tournaments. It takes three or four years to plan for success in any competition.
“We saw the standard of the Africa Cup of Nations. Guinea, Mali, Cape Verde and South Africa played good football. They came to the tournament with young players who have gained experience.
“We performed in tournaments in the past, in spite of our poor preparations because we had quality and determined players.
“I don’t think we have such players now. Our football is dying and nothing concrete is being done to save the game.
“We should stop deceiving ourselves that we are where we think we are. We should stop overestimating the strength of the Eagles, because there has been a lot of development in the game in Africa over the years and many teams have caught up with us. If we are not careful, football will leave us.
“Our players only attract interests from clubs in Malaysia, India, Israel, China, Thailand and North Africa. It’s a shame our players can no longer break into the big European clubs.
“Countries such as Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana and Mali have players in top clubs.”
BY FESTUS ABU
