Musa ‘Santos’ Garba started playing football in the 1970s when Nigerians were used to good, local football and domineering military regimes.He went on to be teammate to Rashidi Yekini, Etim Esin and Okon Ene. Musa, who? is so passionate about the publishing business, talked to BASSEY EKPO BASSEY about why he coaches part-time and the need for every footballer to acquire some form of formal education.
In The Beginning
I started playing when I was six or seven years old. I cannot remember the exact age, but I was captain of my primary school team in 1968. When I got admitted into the Technical School, Zuba, I also played for the school team and became captain of the school in form three. In fact, in my 51 years on earth, I have spent 43? of them playing football. Incidentally, I also captained the Kaduna Polytechnic team.
Family Tradition
My family is a family of footballers. My elder brother used to play for Raccah Rovers and is now a coach with Kaduna All Stars FC. My eldest brother coached the prisons team before he died unexpectedly. As a matter of fact, his death could be related to football, because he died on his way back from Kano were he went to watch a football match.
Professional Football
I started playing active football in form three, in 1976. Some local teams enlisted some of us to play some state league matches for them. I completed my secondary education in 1979 and joined prisons football club, Kaduna in 1980. I did not play for prisons for long. I was signed by Leadway Insurance FC almost immediately.
The coach of the Flying Eagles, Father Tiko, noticed me and drafted me into the team. During the Nations Cup in 1980, we were camped in Ibadan, while the Green Eagles were fighting for glory in Lagos.
In December 1980, I signed for UNTL FC Kaduna, and Rashidi Yekini joined shortly after as a defender, but was soon converted to attack. He flourished in the role and started scoring goals regularly with the help of the killer passes I was delivering from the midfield. I played for UNTL until 1987 when the team was disbanded. Before then, I was invited to the Flying Eagles in 1985 for the African qualifiers of the U-20 World Cup in Chile. The World Cup was a disaster, a complete debacle. I did not make the final cut for the competition proper, but played in the qualifiers and was part of the team that defeated Egypt to qualify for the World Championship.
School, Distractions and Football
I was schooling and playing football at the same time. It is a very difficult and distracting thing to do, very distracting. If you are not dedicated, you won’t succeed. I had to sacrifice a lot. Some of my mates taunted me and said I was wasting my time, but today where are they? I can communicate fluently. I have been gainfully employed and can hold my head up, anywhere.
I did the compulsory NYSC in 1989 in Sokoto while playing for NACB FC. After completing my service, I signed for Kano Pillars FC under coach Kadiri Ikhana? and won the silver medal of the National Challenge Cup in 1991. We lost in the finals to El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri in the finals. My father died in 1991 and things became very tough, so, I decided to retire prematurely from the game and went into publishing. The money was better than what I was earning as a footballer and helped alleviate some of the problems at home.
Missing the Excitement of Professional Football
I miss playing active football, I retired prematurely. My intention was to continue playing with First Bank of Lagos under coach Fatai Amoo who incidentally, had been my team mate in the Flying Eagles. I did the screening exercise and was set to play, but there were a lot of distractions, family problems and distance. I decided not to play and concentrated on my publishing career.
On winning trophies and accolades
In 1974, I won the state challenge cup with UNTL Kaduna and in 1991, we got to the final of the National challenge cup with Kano Pillars FC and the silver medal was awarded to us. I also helped Nigeria qualify for the U-20 World Cup in Chile, though I did not participate in the tournament.
Most memorable experience with the National team
My team mates in the Flying Eagles were the best this country has ever produced. I stand to be corrected, but I have never seen a set of young players better than Etim Esin, John Okon Ene, Austin Eguaveon, Emma Okocha, Okechukwu Ofoji? and the rest of that gang. That team was special and brimmed with pure talent. It was unfortunate that the team could not go far in Chile. The problem was with the bench; the tactics and formation deployed in the tournament were all wrong just like with this present U-20 team. I must add that beating Egypt to qualify for the tournament was very memorable for me.
Chile Regrets
It is every footballer’s dream to play in the World Cup and I am no exception. I was disappointed, but found solace in education and I am happy and lucky that I did, because that is what is sustaining me today.
Differences Between the U-20 class of 1985 and 2011
The same tactics the coaches used then is what they are using now. Not much has changed. The main difference is the quality of players in both teams. Our set was far better. There were three top players for every position. If a player was unavailable, he was hardly missed. You cannot say that of this present team; there is less quality but they are fit, strong and technically good. These new boys have tried their best. More than any other team in Nigeria’s history, they had the opportunity of being camped for a long time in different continents and played so many friendly matches and mini-tournaments. In our time we played for the shirt, not for the money or to be noticed by scouts of European teams. The boys of today are so conscious of the scouts around them and how much they are paid.
Coaching Inspiration
I am a fan of Jose Mourinho. I follow his football philosophy and try to coach my team according to his dictates. When Mourinho left Chelsea, I was the first person to stop supporting Chelsea. His tactics are always spot-on. He reads the game like no other person. If you watch Mourinho’s team play, the second half is always different from the first, because of the dynamics of his half-time talk.
What next?
I am here with the All Stars FC as coach. The system is sad. People are so desperate to get jobs relating to the game, even when they do not deserve the positions they are vying for. It is like thuggery .We? worked very hard for the growth of football in Nigeria, but look at the kind of people running the sport in the country. They do not have the interest of football at heart. Everybody wants to be an administrator or a coach, even without the right qualifications. Football is now scientific; look at what is happening in Europe. If you don’t plan, you plan to fail. We need people who can come in and run things properly.
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