'As the Eagles flew over the Lions yesterday, so will you also mount on wings as eagles...no challenge will ever be indomitable in your life again.'

That was the spirit-lifting text message I got from a cousin early on Monday morning and it was the kind of thing I really needed after the experience of the previous few days which shook my faith in the way the average Nigerian perceive his nation. And it was for this reason that I made sure I extended the politically loaded prayer to as many people as I possibly could; because the test of our resolve as a nation actually came last Sunday in the match between Nigeria and Cameroun.

I feel so sad now that we lost our semi-final match against Tunisia last night but at least there is the consolation that our boys gave their best and they were not in any way disgraced. That the match ended in penalty shoot-out testifies to the fact the two teams were evenly matched and we can say that we have a crop of players from which we can build a good team.

But the match that really interested me was the one against Cameroun. Okay, we have lost out of the competition but winning that match was good for our national psyche. Because there is something about that match that says so much about us as Nigerians and the fact that we triumphed should also help to convince you that if we believe more in ourselves, if we all play our part, Nigeria can, and indeed, will be great again.

Before last Sunday, if a Gallup poll were to be conducted among Nigerians as to which team would win the Quarter-final clash, majority would have voted for Cameroun. Yet historical records reveal most poignantly, that we have beaten them more than they have beaten us though their victories have been at crucial cup finals. The sad thing though was that many of our people had come to believe once we are paired against Cameroun in any competition, we should accept defeat even without efforts. It is not that the people who believed Cameroun would beat us were unpatriotic; it was just that they had lost faith in the capacity of our boys to demonstrate the much needed discipline and character needed for such a huge encounter.

In our office here at THISDAY, I could only vouch for myself and Eni-B, and we were considered incurable optimists to believe the Super Eagles would beat the Indomitable Lions of Cameroun. But this feeling was not restricted to my office, it was everywhere; as most Nigerians had no faith in the ability of our national team to beat Cameroun notwithstanding the array of talents that we have.

On reflection, I realised that it is not as if those Nigerians who believed Cameroun would beat us were happy about such prospects or that they were not wishing for 'miracle' to happen, the problem was just that they had had their hopes raised and dashed by the same team several times that they would not want to be disappointed. The national football team (Super Eagles) has in itself over the years become a reflection of Nigeria with so much potentials yet the team in recent times has been unable to convert these potentials to win laurels.

However, I had a feeling that Cameroun was not unbeatable for Nigeria that all we needed was a mental attitude that we would win, that we have all it takes to face any opposition, the same attitude we need in our collective aspiration to make our country a better place for us all.

I watched the match in the house of Hon Nduka Irabor with Valentine Egbarin and Mr Femi Enitan who prophetically predicted the match would end 2-1 in favour of Nigeria because he had seen it in his dream. The match actually went as he predicted and I wished I had talked to him before the Tunisian match yesterday to ascertain how it would go, maybe I would not have worked myself up so much.

The Super Eagles played that match with the spirit with which England would play Argentina knowing that there was more than soccer involved, it is about national pride. And the boys gave a good account and helped to restore our national pride.

Yes, we have crashed out but there are lessons we can learn from the whole experience, especially the match against Cameroun and the inspiration provided by Austin Okocha so we can see how a change in attitude can really impact on our nation.

Okocha had come to this competition at a time he was most needed at his club Bolton Wanderers where he is the Skipper but that is not even the issue. The main point is that Okocha had every reason to stay away from the Super Eagles with his money, said to be one million Dollars trapped in Societe General Bank. If Okocha would behave like the typical Nigerian he would have used his personal travail as an excuse to stay away and many of his colleagues who do not have as much talent have actually been a nuisance to the national team.

But Okocha played a role in Nigeria's matches and he deserves our salute. The boys did us proud in Tunis.

This piece was first published on this page in 2004