I wonder how other Nigerians felt on Friday when they witnessed that extraordinarily spectacular opening ceremony of the 29th Olympiad that is being hosted by China. Even as the commentators were overwhelmed by the incomparable display of technological sophistication and struggled to find words that could appropriately describe the sheer magnificence of the occasion, I felt happy and sad all at once. Who would not be thrilled to bits by such experience But as one reflected at the same time, it was impossible not to have a heavy heart.

Seriously, if China is a developing country, then what are we ”Under-developed” That would not even do. What will it take to make us realise that the rest of the world has left us far behind and it may not take long before we become pariah of the world. Is it not mind boggling that in spite of enormous resources at our disposal we have simply refused to get our act together Take the power sector for instance. How could we have spent billions of US dollars there since 1999 if power supply is still as epileptic as ever On the contrary, one does not need to go to China to see that the reported 40 billion US dollars spent to put the Olympics together is really equal to that amount worth of general advancement for that country. Have we really sat down to reflect on the fact that apart from black Africa, every other part of the world is advancing in leaps and bounds If the desert that is the Middle East can be transformed into a space age business and shopping centre and we are so excited about travelling to do business in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, why can we not make our own Tinapa in Cross River State work After spending millions of dollars to advertise this expensive project, is it not puzzling that so little is happening there and the prospects of any dramatic change are bleak

By the way, I visited Tinapa last April to see things for myself. Golly, you cannot find a more modern business complex in any part of the world! As for the scenery, it is really a sight to behold. Sadly, the only shop that could be found had a small stock of fabric stock from a neighbouring country but could not do business as it was reportedly finding it difficult to get clearance from the Federal Government. Well, it would not surprise anyone if all we continue to hear are reasons why Tinapa cannot be fully functional until the structures begin to deteriorate. What a waste that would be

Going back to the opening ceremony of Beijing 2008, let us remind ourselves that the few magical hours of precise synchronisation of complex processes and flawless delivery was the culmination of years of careful planning and painstaking attention to detail. Of course, nothing was taken for granted and a lengthy period of rehearsal was part of the preparation.

But, it is not only the opening ceremony that got me thinking. As I watched some of the football matches that were played the previous day, it occurred to me that our local league will resume soon and the various clubs would be engaged in serious pre-season preparation. The fact that they have a unique opportunity to study these matches as part of their preparation was not lost on me. Yes, not just watching them for entertainment, but studying them to learn valuable lessons that may enable them improve the quality of their play.

The point is, once the local league kicks off, our players rarely have the privilege to watch superior leagues abroad. At the same time as matches are being played, say, in the Premier League in England, they too are either playing theirs back home or travelling to match venues.

With football giants like Brazil, Argentina and Italy featuring in Beijing 2008, and others like Holland and Nigeria (made up mainly of foreign based stars) also showing that they are masters of the basic principles of team play, there is a lot that can be extracted from their matches to improve the quality of our domestic league.

Let me quickly reiterate that Siasia‘s Dream Team is technically as good as any other in this competition. It must be observed however that in the first match against Holland some of the players slipped too often on the pitch, thereby giving the impression that they probably used the wrong boot studs. In this game, every detail counts and the nature of the pitch should never be overlooked.

Having said that, any critical football fan may observe that a common feature of great teams is that they strive to keep possession of the ball for as long as possible. In order to achieve this goal they do not play in a hurry. Even when they quickly dispatch the ball it can be seen that they have thought their actions through. The secret is to think of what to do with the ball before it is even passed to you.

The fact is that the game is as much of brains as it is also of brawn. Basic ball possession rules that all of them observe without exception include, keeping the ball on the ground; giving support to their mates to whom the ball is passed; taking the ball to areas where they have numerical superiority over their opponents; keeping the entire pitch in perspective; and passing to an unmarked mate behind, if the front is blocked.

It is not hard to see why the matches in our local league are so scrappy. We do not only run more and think less, we also tend to play only in one direction and in too much of a hurry into the bargain. We erroneously approach what is meant to be a 90 minutes long battle of wits like a race of a few minutes only.

The greatest challenge that clubs have in this regard is how to resist the pressure from overly anxious and vocal, but not so well informed, fans who just want to see the ball sent into the opponents‘ 18 yard box as quickly as possible. Ironically, clearer and better chances are usually created when the less hasty and more deliberate approach is adopted.

On Friday morning, I called some coaches and discussed my observations with them. They were quite appreciative of my views but quickly confirmed my worst fears. Although all the so-called professional clubs are spending huge sums of money to participate in the league next season, only about 20 per cent of them have taken concrete steps to ensure that they play their home matches on FIFA standard pitches. What happens when they go to play away from home The game cannot be played the way it should be if the pitch is bad.

But why should the state of our pitches continue to be an issue when our ”modern and international” football administrators in the Glass House know what obtains in other parts of the world, or do they When they do not even know what FIFA says about eligibility of players for the senior national team, it is difficult not to doubt that they really know much about the game.

All that they need to do is to educate the clubs about what FIFA‘s minimum standard is for pitches and be absolutely strict about enforcing it. Rest assured, in no time all the clubs would comply.

Our football management gurus arrived in China about one week before the opening ceremony. They have had the opportunity to see how things get properly done. But how much of it will they apply when they come back home, especially as we prepare to host the FIFA U-17 tournament next year No matter what, we just cannot afford to make a hash of it.