Former Green Eagles defence marshal, Yisa Sofoluwe, has revealed some of the things about his success in the defence, things he believed his career of many years with the national team stand out.
Sofoluwe, an ace in his seven-yearsreign in the Green Eagles defence said to be a successful defender, a player must at a time be an attacking pool.
The knowledge of playing in the attack formation, according to him, exposes a defender to the numerous tricks attackers have up their sleeves, and thus equip him for the stopper’s job.
Sofoluwe who broke into the Green Eagles squad in 1983 after his distinguished outing for the Flying Eagles in inaugural World Youth Championship outing in Mexico said the secrets behind his early success was that he learnt to be a striker first before a defender.
He attributed the success of Ben Iroha a former Eagles defence stalwart and current Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo to their origin as front men before taking up defending duties.
He further revealed that he had been so versed in the way of the attackers that he was always good at stopping them.
He would later earn the sobriquet ‘Defence Minister’ from late master commentator, Ernest Okonkwo, who never ceased to be amazed by Sofoluwe’s uncanny display of skills in defence.
‘’Playing in the defence is a difficult job’’, he began. ‘’Weather you are playing in the No. 2 or 3 position it is one of the most difficult spots one can play on the pitch.
‘’You have to be a good player to do well there. These are positions that need skill. And that makes the spot difficult. You have to be calculative and rightly too to be able to interpret correctly every move of an opponent and what direction he is heading with the ball. And of course, once you misjudge any move you are condemned to the wrong direction, and that instantly results to a goal.
Sometimes, you have to pretend that you don’t know what direction a player wants to go with the ball until he makes a move and you promptly intercept him.
‘’I was lucky to be a successful defender in my playing days because I started playing organised football as an attacker. That gave me the privilege of knowing the kind of things attackers do to outwit defenders.
‘’When I was playing for ITT FC, I was a very good attacker and I was good at deceiving defenders. And when I was converted to playing at the No. 2 position by my coach Sessci Asena, then, I already knew what an attacker wants to do next, watching his moves.
‘’That was why perhaps till today no Nigerian player has ever played like me at either No 2 or 3 positions.
‘’Believe me, that secret did not work for me alone. It worked for Ben Iroha too. He was a great defender in his days in the Super Eagles and you will recall that he too played as forward for Nigeria at Nigeria ‘’99 World Youth Championship.
So playing in the front at the initial time I would say, builds a defender. It makes a player not only skilful but calculative. These are the hallmarks of a defender.’’
Sofoluwe was in the team that for the first time qualified to represent Nigeria at a World Youth Championship. The country’s outing at the Mexico ’83 cadet championship was not impressive as the team was eliminated in the early rounds. But when he returned with the team, he and seven others earned promotion to the Green Eagles.
‘’Our defence then was solid’’, he recalled. With me and the like of Sunday Eboigbe, Bright Omokaro as well as Stephen Keshi there was no scoring us easily.
‘’Our formation was very, very good, perhaps the next set of Geagles that equalled our record was the Tunisia’94 African Nations Cup winning team that also featured in the USA ’92 World Cup.
He recalled how he got the name ‘Dean of Defence from late ace commentator, Ernest Okonkwo
‘’Yes it was during a certain game that we played against Ghana in 1983. I shone like a million star in the defence. During that outing, Ernest Okonkwo gave me ‘Dean of Defence and Defence Marshal’. In a matter of time, it stuck. And till I retired from the national team, in 1988, fans always identified me with that. I don’t know what he saw in me perhaps he noticed I was very skilful. But I just didn’t allow that name get into my head. I kept on playing my game until it was time to quit.