The Helnan Palestine Hotel was not the centre of activity yesterday. Nothing happened there except the almost quiet entry and exit of the Super Eagles to their training ground and back. There were no visitors, no interviews, no roaming around, nothing, but the normal human traffic of regular hotel guests going in and out of that huge hotel complex in Alexandria. The presence of some serious security operatives warns everyone of the presence of special VIP guests around. For two days now the players have been cocooned, unavailable until after the match on Saturday.
That’s the price they have to pay to redeem themselves. Gernot Rohr is still maintaining the strict regimen of ‘no disturbance or distraction’. Even the training session last night was closed to everyone except the technical crew directly working with the team. No outsider was allowed at the grounds. However, all of that protocol was gladly ‘broken’ by Gernot himself at a point during the training session yesterday to usher into their midst a very special guest whose presence completely changed the erstwhile sombre mood in the team.
As the tall and lanky 6ft 4ins frame of Papillo sauntered onto the training ground, the team erupted into an ecstasy of cheers; ‘Papillo. Papillo. Papillo’ rented the air. Papillo, of course, is Kanu Nwankwo, former Captain of the Super Eagles, two-time African Footballer of the Year and Nigeria’s soccer ambassador. He had come as a surprise to visit the team. He has been in Egypt since the start of the championship as one of the 6 Special Ambassadors of CAF at the AFCON. With the approval of Mr Rohr, he came to see the players, to share his experiences confronting the ‘menace’ that is the Indomitable Lions’, and to let them into the guarded formula of how Nigeria, from his time, has managed to subdue and dominate the confrontations between the two rival countries – Cameroon and Nigeria. Seeing the nature of the match on Saturday, and realizing how important it is that the Eagles do not exit the championship at this stage, at least, Kanu left his primary assignment in Cairo, travelled to Alexandria and spent some valuable time with the Super Eagles, sharing his thoughts on the very important match on Saturday.
It was a masterstroke. It was magical. I mean the transformation of the mood in the camp. It is a 180-degrees change. The depressive looks have disappeared. The players’ spirit has been lifted. Confidence is restored. When they came back to the hotel yesterday they were excited. They joked and exchanged impressions of the little time shared with one of Nigeria’s greatest players of all time.
D-day is almost upon the land. The fly on the wall is out early today.
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