WHEN THE FOUNDATION IS DESTROYED………

As a young child, growing up made me understand the importance of having a good foundation in all one does. For example, in solving a particular mathematical equation, you won't get the right answer if you approach it wrongly. So also with life. For instance, if a pregnant woman refuses to attend an ante-natal and do the necessary things, the baby might not come out fine. The same applies to a child whose parents refuse to bring him up with good morals. That child might end up bringing shame to the family. Not just the parents, but relatives, the entire community, the child's school, his friends, his country, and even the world at large will be affected. It pays to have the right foundation and bring up a child in the right way. The result is always glorious, wonderful, and of course, leads to a successful future. During the recent FIFA World Cup final in New Zealand, something significant happened. The match between Nigeria's (our dear country) U-20 team and Brazil (my favorite football team), on the 1st of June 2015, had the two coaches put a lot of effort into training, just to win the match. The Nigerian technical team kept an eye on the heart of the midfield. Manchester United’s Andreas Pereira and Atletico Paranaense’s Marcos Guilherme pitched their camps and fired ammunition at the Nigerian defense. While Real Madrid's Jean Carlos and Fluminense little magician, Kennedy, sniffed around for mistakes from the backline and duly exerted justice. After so much training and preparations against all odds, the Brazilian team defeated the Nigerian team by 4 - 2. This might have shocked the Nigerian team. Well, were we surprised? What do you expect from a team with a faulty foundation? They were supposed to be U-20, but they are over 20 years old. Some of them are in their 30s. But they reduce their ages to the 'football age' just to fit into the under-20 team. What a shame and a wrong foundation. To millions of Nigerians, Brazilian Futebol is likened to the Coca-Cola drink, which is the most popular and most consumed soft drink in this part of the world. There is a joke around here, which goes thus: A maid was asked by her master to fetch a bottle of mineral (non-alcoholic beverage) from the refrigerator. The maid opened the refrigerator, but there was no bottle of Coca-Cola inside. She saw 7UP, Sprite, Pepsi, Malt, Bitter Lemon, etcetera. She went back to her master and told him there was no mineral. The master eventually discovered that as far as the maid was concerned, the only drink she knew as mineral was Coca-Cola. This is because almost every Nigerian knows and maybe drinks Coca-Cola. You either drink it or you don’t. The same goes for Brazilian Futebol here. No Nigerian football enthusiast can claim to not know or have heard of legends like Garrincha and Socrates of blessed memory. Or living legends like Pele, Zico, Zagalo, Romario, Carlos Alberto Torres, Dunga, and then Rolando (the enigma), Ronaldinho, Taffarel, Adriano, Kaka, Lucio, Pato, Robinho, and of course, Thiago Silva and the other special boys of Brazil like Neymar, David Luis, Ramires, Oscar, Paulinho, Hulk, Lucas, Marcelo of the Fillipe Scolari 2014 FIFA World cup finals experience. There are a host of other world-class Brazilian footballers playing in Europe and Asia. The impact of Brazilian footballers is still massively felt in Ukraine, Russia, and the Far- East. Professional football clubs in Europe are still vying for the signatures of young talented Brazilian-made footballers. It is on record that for the past five years, Brazil has contributed the largest number of footballers, playing for clubs involved in the European Champions League. Brazil is the land where futebol is played as if it were a dance. Brazil is the only nation that has qualified for every World Cup since it began in 1930. What is called ‘tiki-taka’ in Spain, is nothing but a refurbished form of the Brazilian ‘jogo bonito’ or the ‘samba’ beautiful futebol. The current FIFA ranking does not matter to us, because no other nation in the world is branded by the beautiful game of football, except Brazil. Not even Germany. While we agree that sports in Nigeria have witnessed some degree of decline, bordering on systemic failure, following the near collapse of the infrastructure that once made Nigeria a force within the African Continent and the Commonwealth, the Nigeria Brazil Sports School sees the current situation in Nigeria as a half-filled cup. As a solution provider, Nigeria-Brazil Futebol Academy (NBFA) wishes to be part of the solution and not part of the problems facing sports development in Nigeria presently. We are very optimistic. We believe that we can, and we will, Deo-volente, originate innovative and creative strategies that would rejuvenate grassroots sports development in Nigeria. We are determined to groom the next generation of young, sublime, disciplined athletes, coaches, administrators, managers, technical officials, and sports scientists. Let’s build the right foundation in football, as YOU join the Nigeria-Brazil Futebol Academy (NBFA) this August 2015. It's a two-week training for the U-20, U-17, and U-13 in a residential football camp. Check the Nigeria-Brazil Football Academy – (NBFA) Facebook page for details. We are solution providers and we believe we will provide the next generation of genuine age-grade players for our beloved country. We are part of the change. Let’s do it together. Viva Nigeria. AYODEJI ANIFOWOSE Twitter: @gfatherghusband Instagram: @gfather_ghusband, @ayodeji.anifowose Facebook: www.facebook.com/greatfathergreathusband, www.facebook.com/ayodeji.anifowose E-mail: ayollc.company@gmail.com www.ayodejianifowose.com