ARTICLE ONE
AN
ASSESMENT OF NIGERIA’S WORLD CUP CAMPAIGNS FROM 1994-DATE.
As the super
eagles of Nigeria prepare for the 24th world cup
tournament(Nigeria’s sixth) holding in Russia,expectations from fans and
supporters of the team have been mixed.While some are of the opinion that the
country should encounter no problems in a group that also includes familiar
foes, Argentina, as well as Croatia and the unheralded Iceland,pessimists have
opined that the National team will have it tough against the nations,
particularly Argentina, which boasts of the likes of skipper Lionel Messi,
Paulo Dybala, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria, and others, as well Matteo
Kovacic,e.t.c.
Nigeria
debuted on the biggest stage of world soccer at the USA 1994 tournament.The
Clemence Westerhof-coached side had an abundance of talents at it’s disposal,
such as:late Stephen Keshi, Uche Okechukwu, Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amuneke,
Daniel Amokachi, Finidi George, Thompson Oliha, and lots more.After scaling
through the first round,Nigeria had to battle heavyweights Italy for a quarter-final
berth,which ultimately went to Italy, despite our excellent display in the
game.
In France
1998, the heroics of stars like veteran goalkeeper Peter Rufai, Captain Daniel
Amokachi, Victor Ikpeba, Sunday Oliseh, Austin Okocha, e.t.c couldn’t save us
from another quarter-final exit at the hands of Denmark.
Fast forward
to Korea/Japan 2002,the team, coached by Chief Adegboye Onigbinde paraded the
likes of Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Julius Aghaowah, Joseph Yobo, e.t.c, but
this time, we capitulated and failed to qualify from a group containing the
three lions of England, Argentina, and Sweden.
2006 was a
complete disaster as fans’ hopes of seeing the national team in Germany crashed
after they were pipped to the sole qualifying ticket by Angola.
Fast forward
to 2010, late Shuaibu Amodu had qualified the national team for the world cup
in South Africa after a close battle in a qualifying group containing Tunisia,
Kenya, and Mozambique, only for the Edo-born gaffer to get fired and replaced
by a swede, ‘Lars Lagerbacks.Despite reportedly being one of the highest paid
coaches at the mundial,he did not hesitate to show his incompetence by failing
to qualify from a group containing Argentina, Greece, and South Korea, despite
parading the likes of Kalu Uche, Osaze Odemwingwe, Vincent Enyeama, Obinna
Nsofor, and lots more.
The late
Stephen Keshi was at the helm of affairs in Brazil, and despite an opening
goalless draw against the less-fancied Iran, Nigeria still scaled through after
beating Boznia & Herzegovinia by a lone goaland losing 3:2 to a
Messi-inspired Argentina.
Now, as the 2018 tournament draws closer,
whether we can scale through the round of sixteen curse is a question on the
lips of many.We have the likes of Victor Moses, Moses Simon, Williams Troost-Ekong,
Leon Balogun, Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Ogenyi Onazi, and of course,
captain John Mikel Obi.However,there are still some areas of the team that
needs urgent attention.One of such areas is the goalkeeping position.Ever since
erstwhile coach, Sunday Oliseh unceremoniously caused the exit of arguably
Nigeria’s best goalkeeper ever Vincent Enyeama, and Carl Ikeme’s leukemia
issues, Nigeria has been struggling to get trusted and capable
goalkeepers.Ikechukwu Ezenwa’s world cup qualifying campaign was laced with
countless errors, while the likes of Dele Ajiboye, Daniel Akpeyi, Bamidele
Alampasu, and others don’t look good enough to be first choice at the world
cup.Another area is the centre-forward position, wher we only have Kelechi
Iheanacho and Odion Jude Ighalo as the only trustworthy individuals.The earlier
Franco-German coach, Gernot Rorh finds solutions to these problems, the better
for the team
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