BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

For Nigeria, the quest for qualification for the Qatar 2022 has reached a fever-pitch level. The Super Eagles have all to play for in the last leg of the the play-off. No ambiguity, a win is al it takes to fly to Qatar 2022.

But the rest of Nigerians have their roles to play too. One vivid example comes to mind. At the 2013 FIFA Confederation Cup final, a big fact played out. It is the overwhelming support for a team, irrespective of proceedings on the pitch.

When a situation gets to the point of having to decide ones fate on home soil, beautiful football is often at discount. It is the result that matters. So, when the  Seleção of Brazil took on the then World Cup holders at the famous Maracana Stadium in Rio, they could not have wished for a better setting.

Considering the wave of protests that had swept across Brazil at the time, even many were against the hosting of the tournament as well as the World Cup meant for the next year, no one could had predicted a capacity crowd and an overwhelming support for the home team.

After the match, even Brazil’s Coach Felipe Scolari was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. “Nobody expected such an emphatic result, not against the world champions,” he remarked at the post match conference.

He largely attributed the performance of the extra-charged Brazilian team to the overwhelming, if not intimidating support of the densely packed crowd.

“I also want to draw attention to the support the team had off the pitch. It’s a message for the whole of Brazil. We have to get along and stick together to make sure things move forward,” the 2002 World Cup-winning coach said.

The atmosphere was so electrifying that it could have taken only a prophet to predict a total humiliation of Spain, then the best team in the world. This is what the Super Eagles deserve on Tuesday evening in Abuja as they host their most ferocious rivals, the Black Stars.

 The 2013 Confederations Cup final  is where I will expect the Nigerian football fan to draw a big lesson. When the Brazilian fan decides to back a team, he does so, regardless of the standard being exhibited on the pitch.

 If you think I was the only one overwhelmed by the atmosphere at Maracana, perhaps you also needed to be at the massive arena. Hear Blatter, the then FIFA president, “I’ve never seen anything like that. The fans were extraordinary in the stadium. I can still feel [the atmosphere] in the stadium today. When they started to sing the national anthem, even when the official part of it was over, they continued to sing. Ok, perhaps it delayed the match for two minutes, but it was not too important.”

 When Nigeria took on Tahiti, the half-filled Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte, the support for the Tahitians was overwhelming and unwavering despite the Tahitians getting ‘goal drunk’.

 A typical Nigerian fan would have made a volte face when his team plays disappointingly. When the fans shifted allegiance to the Super Eagles in their subsequent two matches which they lost against Uruguay and Spain, the fans backed the Super Eagles all the way despite the results.

 The Nigerian fan should no longer be a fair weather friend of his team. He should not wait for goals to be scored before he let loose his emotions.

Let the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) begin the “Green Revolution” by making available to ech ticket holder, a green T-shirt. Let’s create “Green Belts” at the stadium on Tuesday. Back to the electrifying atmosphere at the Maracana Stadium in 2013, it was a sea of yellow shirts that adorned the bowel of the massive arena.

There was just no way the Seleção would not have felt at home. Perhaps the only other place I ever witness such overwhelming support was at the 2002 World Cup as the South Koreans mobilised behind their not-too strong national team.

In all-red attires, the Koreans packed in the stadiums and fan parks. Such backing saw South Korea topping a group that had teams like Portugal and Poland and even overcame Italy to reach the quarter-finals. 

The fans with their red attires created “Red Seas” at every venue Korea played. This is a lesson to the Nigerian fan.

It is should be a task to mobilise fans from neighbouring towns and cities to ensure that the Moshood Abiola National Stadium is filled to capacity when the Super Eagles take on Black Stars.

Put on the colours of your team! When the Super Eagles play at home, let us match the colour of the pitch with those of the stands.

Let there be the green belts. Let us paint the arena green. Let the “green revolution” begin this Tuesday as we make the final fight to qualify for the World Cup.

Let the various supporters clubs come together as an entity, at least for now, to ensure we pick the valuable World Cup ticket.  

 Let the various supporters clubs adopt the concept of total support, yet non-violent approach in backing our team. Let them create chants that the rest of the crowd can echo. We do not necessarily need long songs that only few can sing.

Let’s electrify the venue! Onward to Qatar 2022.