The Super Eagles are one of Africa’s best known sides, and will be making their fourth appearance in the World Cup in 2010. They will be a difficult side to beat and may produce some upsets during the tournament. At present, they are ranked 21 in the FIFA World Rankings which makes them the third highest ranked African sides behind Cameroon and Egypt.
Nigeria have made the knockout stages in two of the three occasions they have competed in the World Cup. In 1994, their first appearance was marked by victories over Greece and Bulgaria. They were moments away from eliminating eventual runners-up Italy in the second round before a Roberto Baggio goal took the game to extra time and he scored again to send the Super Eagles home. The 1998 tournament was lit up by Nigeria’s sensational 3-2 win over Spain in the group stages. This time however, they were crushed 4-1 in the second round by Denmark. In the 2002 World Cup, Nigeria had a disappointing campaign, losing to Sweden and Argentina whilst drawing with England and were eliminated in the group stage. They narrowly missed out on 2006 qualification when Angola eliminated them from African qualifying via head to head results.
In their first qualifying group, Nigeria easily coasted through, winning all six matches and conceding only one goal. They found the second stage a trickier affair however. Tunisia pushed them all the way, but Nigeria defeated Kenya in their final match to pip the Tunisians to the World Cup spot by a single point.
Nigeria have been drawn against old foes Argentina yet again in the group stage, the third time the sides have met in Nigeria’s fourth World Cup tournament. The other teams are South Korea and Greece and the Super Eagles will show no fear against either side. With their first game being against the talented Argentines, Nigeria need to keep their composure if they lose this match as widely expected. They have enough talent to get them past the other two nations. Joseph Yobo who plays for Everton will hope to hold the defence together while John Obi Mikel of Chelsea will look to anchor midfield. Up front, Nigeria have a trio of gifted but erratic strikers in Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth), Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton) and Obafemi Martins (Wolfsburg) who are capable of brilliance at any given moment but too often flatter to deceive. Their consistency will be key to Nigeria’s World Cup hopes.