After 35 years, a member of the victorious Golden Eaglets, Salisu Nakande has revealed that FIFA’s promise of free shopping for any team that would reach the semi-finals propelled the team to victory at the maiden edition of the World U-16 Championship in Beijing, China.
In this exclusive interview with Trust Sports, the former JIB Rocks and Mighty Jets midfielder said memories of the 2-0 victory over West Germany in the final match will forever linger with members of the 1985 victorious squad.
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35 years after, how would you describe the feeling after the Eaglets squad of 1985 won the maiden edition of the FIFA U-16 World Championship in China?
It was and it still feels great. I give thanks to almighty God for keeping almost all of us alive after 35 years. We have lost only one member of the squad and that is Kingsley Aikhionbore who died in 2006 in London. The rest of us are living legends. Nigerians still remember us and it is an achievement we can’t quantify. The feeling of excitement will be with us forever.
At what stage of the competition would you say the team realised victory was a possibility?
To be honest with you we attended the Championship without fanfare. Nobody had hope in us. When we were leaving this country only a few people knew about it. I think the Green Eagles who were on their way back from Tunisia after their 1986 World Cup qualifying match knew we were travelling to China. We met them at the Airport. Nigerians started to follow the competition when we qualified for the quarter-finals.
What would you say motivated the team to go all the way to the finals?
At the quarter-finals FIFA made a promise that any team that would qualify for the semi-finals would go on a free shopping trip in Hong kong. So all we wanted was to have the opportunity to shop for free in Hong Kong. As kids that was our motivation at that moment. Our target was to reach the semi-finals so we would shop and come home with a medal. However, we defeated Guinea in the semi-final to reach the grand finale against West Germany. And in the finals we shocked the whole world by beating the favourites 2-0.
Could you describe the atmosphere when the team arrived from China with the world trophy?
It was a fantastic feeling. We had a stop-over at the Aminu Kano Airport in Kano around 4am and were shocked to discover that Nigerians in their thousands were on ground to welcome us. When we flew into Lagos, we saw another mammoth crowd that had come out to receive us. Thousands of Nigerians were out there screaming on top of their voices. Some shed tears of joy. The crowd we saw would be recorded only if the present Super Eagles are able to win the Senior World Cup. It was a memorable moment.
How did you get into the team that made history in China?
We were selected from secondary schools in Nigeria. We were products of competitions like Emmanuel Adebajo Cup and Ramat Cup organised by Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria, YSFON. I remember we played the zonal qualifiers of the Adebajo Cup in Calabar where Late Paul Hamilton picked eight of us from Plateau State. But before then, in 1983, Plateau State won the Ramat Cup and I was a member of the team. So we were invited to camp by Coach James Peters. We were like 97 in number but in November of 1984, he left to join BCC Lions. In January the team was assembled again and I was recalled along with Sani Adamu. So what I can say is that members of the team were products of school competitions. I was a student of Government Secondary School Jos.
You must be disappointed that Nigeria now recruits players abroad for the National U-17 teams….
It is very unfortunate. This is bringing our football down. We are not developing football in Nigeria. You cannot go and bring U-17 players from abroad for a championship that is developmental. If we have to be sincere with ourselves, we have to go back to school games. We don’t need U-17 players from Europe. In our time, coaches go to the nooks and crannies of Nigeria to search for players. Those of us in the north were taken to the south and those in the south came up north and that was how players were selected by Sebastine Brodericks and Christian Chukwu. Every selection was based on merit.
How successful was your playing career after you returned from China?
When we came back, I was with the Nigerian Standard FC Jos which was later taken over by JIB Rocks Jos. I was to travel with the Flying Eagles to Chile 87 but due to my physique and age, Late Chris Udemueze said I should go back to the U-17 team that was preparing for Canada 87 but I said no. There was no need for me to go back to the competition I had won already. I was to go for pilgrimage that same year so I collected my passport. When I came back from Saudi, I returned to Jos and went to school on a government scholarship. I attended Plateau State Polytechnic. At the same time, I signed for NASCO Jets now Mighty Jets of Jos. But between 1989 to1990 I had a serious knee problem. Late MKO Abiola wanted to sponsor me to Spain for treatment but he had problems with the Federal government so that didn’t work out. I continued to manage the knee but in 1993, it was impossible for me to continue so I quit active football.
Unlike what obtains now, most members of the 1985 squad didn’t get professional contracts in Europe. What was the problem?
We also had a lot of offers. For instance almost all of us were offered admission in an academy in Germany to continue with our education and football career but the federal government turned it down and tagged us ‘government property’. You know when you are government property, nobody will touch you. That was how all of us were denied the opportunity to play professional football in Europe. It was a major setback for us. Two weeks after we were hosted at the Dodan Barracks, the government of the then Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari was overthrown and we were forgotten. However, after over 32 years, President Buhari recently hosted us and each of us was rewarded with a cash of N2m.
Having retired from active football, what are you doing for a living?
I am a Local Government Staff in Plateau State but I am actively involved in football coaching and administration. I have set up a football academy called SAS FC and I also manage an amateur club called Pyramid FC Jos. I run the club with an expatriate who is into mining. We have been managing the club for over 14 years now. I am also into consultation in terms of sports administration. I have obtained a CAF ‘C’ coaching licence and I have a basic certificate in football from the National Institute for Sports Lagos. I am also a match commissioner in the Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL. So you can see that I am still doing football business.
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