BY Remi Sulola
Former Super Eagles coach Johannes-Franciscus Bonfrère is an important part of Nigeria’s football history. His feat of winning gold at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics will make his name forever associated with Nigerian football success. In this interview with TheCable’s SULOLA REMI, the man popularly known as Bonfrere Jo speaks on the dwindling quality of the Nigerian football teams, Gernot Rohr’s non-interest in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) players, the 2000 AFCON final loss, among other interesting issues.
TheCable: What were your memorable times with both the U-23 and Super Eagles squads?
Bonfrere Jo: I had a very great group of players who understood each other very very well. And during our games in the USA, our players started to be a team outside the field and inside. And there was no difference between top players who play in big teams in Europe or small clubs in Europe. There was no difference, there was no superiority behaviour from outstanding players. That was the strongest point that I saw in my team in Atlanta.
TheCable: How magical did it feel beating Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina on the way to winning Africa’s first Olympic gold in football?
Bonfrere Jo: It was not magical because I had the belief in my players. Though, it was difficult to qualify in the qualifying round with Hungary, Japan and Brazil from the group stage. We had Japan and Brazil to contend with because they were a very strong team. Against Mexico, I noticed that my team was a little bit scared because of the calibre of players they had in the team. I noticed this from the training. I noticed it when they were talking. So, I tried to convince them that we are better than Mexico and that who is Mexico compared to Nigeria when it comes to football. We have very good players and that we can beat them. Finally, we started the game with the belief that we could do it and they played very well and they beat them.
TheCable: How painful was losing out on AFCON gold via a penalty shootout defeat to Cameroon in 2000?
Bonfrere Jo: At first, you don’t feel happy when you lose a game and especially when you lose a final of the Nations Cup. But that last game we had so many players who had injuries. They could not play. Some players that played that day even played with injuries. But we had no more substitutes to bring in any more. We tried and tried, and of course, when you lose by penalty shootouts, it’s a gamble. And when you play shootouts, someone always has to lose for the other to win. Very disappointing because we played very good football in the tournament.
It was very painful. When we were preparing for the AFCON, the players said they are in a tough group with Tunisia and Morocco. We thought we could not even go to the next round because of Tunisia and Morocco. But I told them that we will surely go to the knock-out round. But it was very painful to lose the final.
TheCable: What’s your take on the mentality of selecting only players who ply their trade with top clubs in Europe for the national team?
Bonfrere Jo: I have selected and went looking for some players I saw on TV. I also go to their clubs to watch them play. Like Mobi [Oparaku], he was in the third division in Belgium. I selected some players that people in Nigeria didn’t even know were playing in Europe. All the players don’t have to play in top clubs in Europe. Sometimes, players can be playing in a second division club in Europe and nobody has seen the qualities from him.
TheCable: How did you spot good players in the NPFL in your time and what’s your take on Rohr’s non-interest in the local players?
Bonfrere Jo: In my time when I was looking through the local league, the league was very poor. You must think 20-25 years ago. The league was very poor. There were no good pitches, no good coaches to train the players. But now, Nigeria has a better league where teams play in the CAF Champions League competitions. So, you have better players now in Nigeria than in my time.
Now it is very easy to select some players from the league, you go training with them and you can then see the qualities in them. You cannot see the qualities if you only watch one game. Select the players in this league, they are good but you have to find them. But if you are not going to look through the league, you can never find one.
Go and look, select them, train them, then you can select some players for the national team when you have friendly games. That is also the support to improve other players in the league. Other players will be inspired to train more and harder for them to have the same opportunity of being selected. Go look through the league. And get information from people.
TheCable: What do you think of the Nigerian national team now?
Bonfrere Jo: Nigeria football is not the quality that I think the nation’s football should be in right now. Nigeria football must be respected across the continent. We have very good players in the national team but the thing is that they use them wrongly on the pitch of play. That’s the problem.
TheCable: Why did you play for Maastricht alone throughout your playing career?
Bonfrere Jo: During my playing career, I played only for Maastricht not because I never had offers from other clubs within the Netherlands or outside but during our time, we were not used to going to play far away from your home. But now, you see players who will play in Germany this season, by next season they are in Belgium or England or Spain or Italy. But during my time, we were not used to leaving our parents, house, city, and village.
TheCable: As good as you were as a midfielder during your playing days, why did you never feature for the Netherlands?
Bonfrere Jo: I played at the Netherlands youth level. I also played with the military team because that time, when you are eighteen years old, you must go to the military. But at that time, Ajax was a top team and there was an Ajax player who played the same position as me. Then, it was better for players from one club to play for the national team than with too many strange players. That was why I never made it to the senior national team of the Netherlands.
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