High expectations for our Nigerian sports

Dear steemits, the year has just begun and I guess soo much is expected of our sports teams and I thought this information might be useful to us, so let's see what "THISDAY NEWSPAPER" has for us as we read below,

Nigeria’s sport was a mixed bag of fortunes in 2017. While taking us through most of the events that defined 2017, DURO IKHAZUAGBE here believes the New Year holds much promise for Nigeria

2017 was a year like no other in recent time for Nigerian sportsmen and women. It was a year of mixed bag of fortunes in almost all sectors. It therefore was not surprising that Nigerians entered the year with so much pessimism. But this New Year appears a different ball game given the manner it crept in with so much hope.

Over the years, it is no surprise that success or failure in football has become the yardstick of gauging the overall performance of Nigeria in sports. With Super Eagles failure to make the cut to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the second time back-to-back even as defending champions of the 2013 edition, Nigerians didn’t expect much to happen. The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon roared to the AFCON 2017 trophy to give the signal of another miserable year for Eagles.

But with one foot ahead of the pack in the Group B of the 2018 World Cup qualification pairing that included, Cameroon, Algeria and Zambia, that initial victory for Nigeria against the Chipolopolo in Ndola in October of 2016 set the stage for the eventual easy cruising to the Mundial for Super Eagles. They even did that with the last trip to Algeria as a dead rubber affair having secured the lone ticket at stake. That singular feat wiped away the tears of missing out of AFCON 2015 and 2017. Suddenly, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) chief, Amaju Pinnick and his board members at the Glass House became the toasts of football crazy Nigerians. Everyone is now commending the wisdom of hiring Franco-German gaffer, Gernot Rohr and his crew.

In other competitions, the Home-based Eagles qualified for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) starting in Morocco and; the Under-20 and Under-17 girls swept aside opposition to reach the final round of qualification for their respective FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Tell me, what's your take on this, feel free to express yourself.