Teranga Lions, new challenge for Super Eagles

Senegal celebrating Sadio Mane’s second goal in the Teranga Lions’ 4-2 defeat of Brazil in an international friendly game in Portugal…last week.<br />

An event last week is nudging me back to a subject I have avoided for a long time in my sports discourse – Nigerian football.    Terango Lions quietly created history last week in Lisbon, Portugal. The world has been in a state of awe and shock, stunned by the transformation of the Senegalese national football team. The team that struggled to hold lowly Squirrels of Benin Republic to a 1-1 draw in Cotonou, became giant conquerors, a few days later, last Tuesday.

I have not read many analysts do a forensic on the friendly match of the Lions against the Samba Boys of Brazil held in Lisbon. It is as if there is a conspiracy of silence by the media? One of the strongest national teams in the world, the current third-ranked by FIFA, the country that plays with great consistency and has the best football records in history, Brazil, were taken to the cleaners by Senegal.    Only Nigeria in Africa had ever done what comes closest to Senegal’s feat. At the semifinals of the Olympic Games football event in 1996, the Eagles came from two goals down to win the pulsating match in extra time by 3 goals to 2. Last week, the Senegalese bettered that, although in a friendly encounter that only very few spectators saw.  The final scores were 4-2.    Senegal inflicted damage to the reputation and records of Brazil. They handed the Samba Boys a humbling defeat, surprisingly creating only ripples (not waves) across the football landscape, the ensuing ‘silence’ speaking louder than the resounding victory.    In Nigeria, the news of the victory hardly rose above a whisper. It was as if Nigerians