An ex-international, goal tender of the defunct BCC Lions FC of Gboko and Super Eagles of Nigeria goalkeeper coach, Alloysius Agu said in a recent interview with The Voicesports’ TERFA ALAGHGA that he was not against a black or white man coaching the Super Eagles. Agu said he was the first Nigerian goalkeeper to play professional football in Holland, and that his major regret in football was when the Super Eagles of Nigeria lost to Gli Azzurri of Italy at the USA 94 World Cup. He also spoke on other issues.Excerpts:
How did you begin playing football?
I began playing football at a tender age, when I was in the primary school at Ibeme Primary School in Imo state of Nigeria.
What inspired you into taking to goalkeeping?
My late elder brother, Vigilus Agu was a good goalkeeper and because I grew up watching him play, the love for goalkeeping just came into me and I developed the interest in it and as goalkeeping runs in the veins of the family, while I was playing for the Ibeme primary school team, I began putting in a lot of efforts and backing it with prayers. It paid off and that is why I am where I am today.
Were your parents in support of your playing football?
Well, they did not completely allow me because they would always say, “have you read your books, have you finished what you are supposed to do”? But I am happy today that before their death, they were so grateful to God that I was a successful football player and that eventually, I was able to serve this country as I am still serving. May their souls rest in peace. Unlike during our time when our parents were not allowing us to play football, most parents today want their children to play football because there is light at the end of the tunnel. So it is a good thing to allow your child do what interests him but he must also read his books because it is important. But if he wants to play football, let him because there is future in it.
Did you continue with goalkeeping after your primary school?
Very well. I continued at the secondary school level and even up to the University of Lagos, where I also played in the NUGA Games.
Which club side, did you first start playing football for?
I played for various local clubs but where I started making the waves was at the ITT Waves FC of Lagos (a company owned by the late MKO Abiola). It was while playing for the Lagos State League side against big teams like the NEPA, ACB, National Bank and Stationary Stores Football Clubs all of Lagos that some of us including the late Yisa Sofoluwe were picked and moved to NEPA FC of Lagos, from where we were also invited to the Flying Eagles of Nigeria.
Can you recall some of the players that you met in the Flying Eagles camp?
Yes I can recall Ali Jeje, who was there as the captain, Monday Odiaka, Friday Elaho, Mike Odoh, Andrew Uwe, late Osaro Obobaifo, Ndubuisi Okosieme, Samson Siasia and others too numerous to mention. Our squad lifted the ECOWAS Cup (then Shehu Shagari Cup) and we went ahead to qualify for the Junior World Cup in the Soviet Union. We were not only African Champions but we also brought the Junior World Cup medal in 1985. In fact all of us in that squad were drafted to the Super Eagles camp.
Which club did you leave NEPA Lagos for?A
Though, many clubs wanted me to sign for them but I left for ACB FC Lagos and then to BCC Lions FC of Gboko, under the late Coach Shaibu Amodu where I also contributed my quota to lifting the Cup Winners Cup with them before I left for Holland.
How would you describe your days at BCC Lions FC of Gboko?
Most exhilarating. The people loved football, they loved us too and one thing you can not take away from them is the pounded yam. We ate pounded yam in the morning, afternoon and at nights with plenty goat meat. I had good time with my team mates like, Aham Nwankwo, Moses Kpakor, late Terfa Kpakor and Alumun Aule and others including Edema Fuludu with whom we nick named ourselves, “ishor ka ishima”. Even today, when we meet that is the name we address each other with. We enjoyed Playing for the club and we were all happy and I was particularly glad to be part of those who contributed to the growth of the club but I had to leave for Holland.
Were you invited or you went for trials?
I was invited. I was supposed to sign for Dragons FC of Benin Republic which did not work out because after my brilliant performance as a substitute to David Ngodigha who was injured in one of the Italia 90 World Cup qualifiers between the Super Eagles and Indomitable Lions of Cameron in Cameron, about five teams in Cameron wanted me but the late MKO Abiola advised me, Ademola Adesina and Yisa Sofoluwe, to return with him to Nigeria and we all accepted. After the Algiers 90 qualifiers, Clemence Westerhoff travelled to Holland to watch a game involving relegation bound MVV Maastricht. That was when he told them that there was someone he would recommend to them and can save them out from their predicament. They accepted and I was invited to the team.
How were you received in the tram?
I was well received and in fact, after my first training session with the team they said they have now found who they were looking for but along the line when we were to go for a football match, there was a disagreement between the players union and the team where they said, there are enough goalkeepers in Holland but wondered why they were bringing in an outsider. The team appealed in court with the reason that non of the goalkeepers in Holland were willing to accept the offer that the outsider was willing to. The team won the case and I was asked many questions which I answered intelligently and I was signed into the team. And to the glory of God, I helped the team out of relegation.
Which club did you leave MVV Maastricht for?
I was supposed to sign for PSG but when their team captain, got involved as coach of RC Liege in Belgium, he said Alloy you will go with me which I did. At RC Liege, I met three great players, Sunday Oliseh, Victor Ikpeba and King Gambo the Zairian national team captain. From RC Liege, I went to a Division 3 FC, Kayserispor Kulubu of Turkey and played for sometime before leaving for Canada to play for a lower division club. I then left for the USA and played for Indiana Invaders and I finally hung my boots.
Was is it due to injury or old age?
Not really due to any of the two reasons but I just told my God to give me a grace of two more years in which to play football and He was faithful to me and I had to keep to my promise and even the injury that I sustained within the period of the two years, healed miraculously in less than a Week.
Were there any challenges that you faced in your play days?
I don’t think I had any challenges in Nigeria, because all I wanted was to play for NEPA Lagos, ACB Lagos, get good results, make the people happy which I was doing and this gave me joy and the moment you have such priorities you will go places. But when I was playing for the national team, I had some challenges in our match against Ghana and that against Brazil, where I had my leg fractured. Against Ethiopia too my waist was tampered with. Aside that, it is a great joy serving my country and the clubs that I played for. In fact, I had no regrets.
What were your best moments in football?
I had so many best moments and the first was when Nigeria qualified for the Junior World Cup in 1984/85 and becoming Africa’s champions by bringing home the World Cup medal after defeating Mexico in the USSR. I was man of the match. I was part of the team that qualified Nigeria for the first World Cup and lifting the Unity Cup outside Nigeria. It was a thing of joy for me to be part of the squad that made Nigeria 5th in the whole World in football by FIFA rankings. There are so many great moments which I can not exhaust.
And your worst moment was?
When Nigeria lost to Italy in the USA 94 World Cup. Honestly speaking, Nigeria had a formidable team that was capable of playing in the final of the World Cup but God knows why it happened that way. That was the worst moment in my football career because I knew that we had a squad.
Is there any difference between the players of your time and the players now?
There is a great difference and that is, the Culture which includes determination, resilience and the doggedness in Nigerian football. But are our players experiencing such attributes now? How many fans go to stadium to cheer them up or invest in them? What are supporters or investors giving the players? In our time, somebody would just walk up to you and ask you what you want and he gives you because you are making them happy by playing the kind of football that they want. That is why before I left Nigeria for professional football abroad, I was already grounded and did not go there to learn football. Today, at the age of 15/16 these players leave for Europe, so how would they learn the culture?.
What informed your decision to take to coaching?
Right from my youth, I have had the interest in coaching and also when I was playing professional football in Holland, there was a particular section in your contract agreement which stipulates that you must go out there and impart in the youths. So that had been part and parcel of me and that is why I excelled in that department and when I returned to Nigeria, I started preaching to Nigerians that goalkeepers are special people who need special hands because they are the most important people in the field of play, people who decide a match. I can tell you that since 2004 to date, every club in Nigeria has a goalkeeper coach and it has not been like this before and my first point of call was the Football College of Excellence, where I started recruiting for them with Coach Westerhoff. I also had the same opportunity when I was invited by Coach Daniel Amokachi and Baraji to handle goalkeepers at the Nasarawa United FC of Lafia, where they said I should provide them with three goalkeepers that would replace the five already that were in the team which according to them were not good but I told them I would prefer to work on the five, and that they should give me just one month to transform them and by the time I am through with all of them before the season begins, they will all play for Nasarawa United FC of Lafia, and even make a difference anywhere they go in the world as goalkeepers. They accepted with all pleasure and behold, it came to pass and the good result was Femi Thomas, Audu and so on. They were all exceptional in goalkeeping. I train my goalkeepers such that the first choice in goal is the one playing well at a particular time.
After your sojourn in Nasarawa United FC of Lafia, where did you go?
I went to Enyimba FC of Aba, and stayed there for up to when we played in the CAF Champions League before my name was shortlisted for the Super Eagles of Nigeria, and I left.
Did you also carry out the same transformation in the goalkeeper department there?
When I came to the national team, all the goalkeepers were having issues and they asked me, “Alloy what are you going to do”? But I simply said I would transform them. At that time, Vincent Enyeama was the fourth goalkeeper with the Super Eagles but when I was shortlisted to the team, I transformed him and he became the number one choice for Nigeria. What about Dele Aiyenugba, Bassey Akpan, Ejike and the rest who played for us and were also in top shape? I have transformed the goalkeeper department because it is a gift that comes from God and is in me. If you check the records, there was a time Vincent Enyeama played in thirteen games for the Super Eagles and he did not concede a goal and they did not lose any match. He still holds the record as one of the best goalkeepers in the World Cup. You can check the records. He is my boy that I respect and he equally respects me too because he knows that I know my job. I can tell you that I brought so many good goalkeepers into the Super Eagles team. I brought in Carl Ikheme who nobody knew and in a space of one week after working on him he played for the national team and when he was injured, I worked on others like, Ezenwa, Akpeyi, Francis Uzoho, Maduka Okoye and others.
Foreign and Local coaches, which do you subscribe to for the national team?
Why do you subscribe to coaches and players going to Europe? I am not against any coach whether you are black or white for as long as you know what you are doing, bring good result to Nigeria, we will approve of you because no man is an island and if our own is good, he is good so let him be there. When a white man came and turned Vincent Enyeama to the fourth goalkeeper and when I came, I said I would change the situation which I did and Enyeama became the first choice for Nigeria.
In a nutshell, what are you saying?
I am saying it is all about performance and that is your bargaining power. So all I am advocating for is the best hands and best players for Nigeria at all time and this will give us the result that we want. That is why I am not against a black or white man coaching the national team. If we are good, give us the job and if it is a white man that can take us to the place of glory, bring him but we don’t need someone who will create problems for us because we love football. I was in Enyimba FC of Aba and I gave them the best the same as in Nasarawa United FC of Lafia. So it is a matter of putting the right peg in the right hole.
Home and foreign based players. Which of these class do you think can make a better Super Eagles?
Honestly speaking, we are unique when we come together and also bring our gifts together to work for our father land. Remember, we are all Nigerians and as long as we are heading for the same goal. What matters is if you are good and are willing. When we played in the Algiers 90, we had only three foreign based players in the team and we came back with a Silver medal.
Is Nigerian League really developed?
It is supposed to have gone beyond this. If you go to Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt for instance, you will discover that it is difficult for their younger ones to leave their shores because of the level of football development. They have all the facilities that they need so we too must move on and I believe a lot has been put in place to get to that level. That means we have to start from the grassroots, in all arms of the league.
How do you wish to be remembered?
I wish to be remembered for helping my country to attain great heights, for helping and ministering to people, for being a man of God, and one who has dedicated his life to serving God and his country.
What is your philosophy?
My philosophy is to give the right people the right chance to work and that is what I have always believed in. If you put the right person with right frame of mind and the right tools, he will perform for you. A football legend, Peter Rufai always tell me that when he sees Ezenwa in goal, he sees me in him and that is to say your performance is your bargaining power and if you put in the right thing into people, they respond to it. That is my philosophy.
