Dear Friend, Do you remember Atlanta ‘96? Read and see a miracle

Do you remember the historic football match

between Nigeria and Brazil in Atlanta 1996?

General Sani Abacha was the president of Nigeria,

while Jo Bonfere was the Chief Coach of the

dream team with Nwankwo Kanu as the skipper.

Brazil was the king of global football and they

knew it. So, Nigeria losing to Brazil that night

would not have been a big deal.

Gosh! Brazil dealt with us that night. Till around

77th minutes (about 12 minutes to the end of the

game) Brazil was obviously dominating the game.

The score line was Brazil 3, Nigeria 1.

Despite the Brazil squad including star names

such as Carlos, Rivaldo, Bebeto and Ronaldo,

Nigerians watching the game still think Nigeria

did not deserve such humiliation by Brazil boys,

we had been beaten mercilessly. Nigerians

became angry towards the end of the match;

many had turned off their Television sets, some

were shedding tears, while few hoped and prayed

that we would not be further disgraced with yet

another goal, but the unimaginable happened in

the game.

At about 78th minutes Victor Ikepba stroked from

20 meters to score the second goal, everything

changed beyond the 3:2 score line. Pressure came

upon Brazi and hope for the Nigeria players, they

became more motivated and began to fire shots

from every angle.

Then another miracle, at the 90th minute, just

before the final whistle, Kanu Nwankwo turned

and flipped the ball over Dida and it was another

goal, the equalizer.

What a wonderful match...

There was a rule then, “the Golden Goal Rule: the

first team to score in the extra time wins the

game.

Then came the decisive goal from Papilo in just 3

minutes into the extra time… And that was how

the messy game became a message.

A lot can still be done this year to make it a

glorious year, the remaining part of the year is

sufficient to define the whole year.

Don't lose hope now. It is too early to give up on

your beautiful expectations for 2018. It is not

over until it is over, wipe off the tears and buckle

your shoes.

In the remaining days and weeks of this

year, try to;

1). Review

2). Restrategize

3). Relaunch.

Surely, you will win...

Resist the pull of fatigue regardless of the disappointments and delay.