Okon should have done better with Falcons – Mabo

Former Nigeria coach, Ismaila Mabo, believes the Nigeria Football Federation made the right decision by not renewing Edwin Okon’s contract as the Super Falcons coach.

The football body said on Monday that Okon’s assistant, Christopher Danjuma, would manage the team in their Olympic qualifiers against Equatorial Guinea on July 18 and August 2, “pending the appointment of a substantive coaching crew”.

Mabo said Okon missed his chance to take the Falcons to greater heights at the World Cup in Canada, insisting that Nigeria had the opportunity to beat USA in their last group game and advance to the next stage of the tournament.

“I think the NFF did the right thing in helping the team ahead of their forthcoming challenge in the Olympic qualifiers. The best thing to do is to put the team under a more focused technical crew that will boost their morale and instil discipline,” Mabo said.

“I don’t wish to criticise the coach but the truth must be told when analysing that game. We should have beaten USA and avenged our loss against them in 1999 when they beat us 7-1 in China.

“It was obvious the USA team were not as strong as we used to know them, and our team had some of the best talents we could ever wish for. We had Asisat Oshoala, Onome Ebi, Ngozi Okobi and a host of others, who were at their best during the competition but he couldn’t harness them properly.

“We missed several scoring chances in the game, but it could still have gone our way had he adopted the right tactics. The tactic we adopted in the first half, which gave us more possession, was what the USA team adopted in the second half and they used it better. It shouldn’t have been so.”

Mabo said he was taken aback when he learnt Okon refused to shake hands with the USA coach, Jill Ellis, after the 1-0 defeat.

“That was unprofessional and against the ethics preached by FIFA. When USA defeated us in 1999 with a wide margin in our first game, I didn’t fret. There was no point in being angry; I had to learn from the defeat. We eventually went on to beat Korea and Denmark in our group,” Mabo said.

“I also fault Okon on his stance not to study Nigeria’s opponents before their games. If he had requested for the videos from the NFF, I’m sure he would have got them. Besides, I have the 1999 videos, and I’m sure Paul Hamilton has some that could have been of help if he had asked.”

Source: Punch