Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) 1945
Coach: Lars Lagerbäck
Confederation: CAF
FIFA Ranking (Dec 09): 22
Previous Appearances: 3 (1994, 1998, 2002)
Nigeria v Argentina 12 June; Johannesburg
Nigeria v Greece 17 June; Bloemfontein
Nigeria v South Korea 22 June; Durban
Record
2002 First round; 1994 & 1998 Second round
Background
Nigeria reached the second round in their world cup debut in 1994. The Africans repeated the same in 1998, but crashed out in the group stage in 2002. They did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup and now they are back to the main stream for the fourth time, after eight years
the road to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations
Nigeria was placed in Group 4 for the second round along with South Africa, Sierra Leone, and Equatorial Guinea. Nigeria proved to be the best among the lot winning all six games and conceding only one goal. In the third round of the qualifiers, Nigeria were drawn in Group B along with the 2004 African champions Tunisia, Mozambique and Kenya.
Nigeria started off the third round with a draw against Mozambique, but followed it up winning 3-0 against Kenya. But they were held to consecutive draws by Tunisia in away and home matches, the first goal less and the second 2-2. however, they won the last two matches against Mozambique (1-0) and Kenya 3-2 to qualify for the World Cup with 12 points. Mozabique did a favour to them by upsetting Tunisia 1-0, or else the tale would have been different. But what was important for Nigeria was that they remained un beaten with three wins and three draws.
Strengths
Nigeria plays attacking football. There is more than one top striker, like Yakubu-who plays for Everton- in the squad. Osaze Odemwingie, who plays for Locomotiv Moscow, Ikechukwu Uche currently with Real Zaragoza and Obafemi Martins, who has made his mark for Wolfsburg are all thorough professionals and winners on their day.
Weaknesses
The back line is the weak link. The right combination is eluding the team management despite many permutations and combinations. Another glaring lacua is the lack of cohesion as a team. Individual brilliance can win a few games, but not many.
The Coach
Lars Lagerbäck took over the Nigerian team only towards the end of February 2010 after coach Shuaibu Amodu who got the team qualified for the World cup was sacked. That he has been with the boys only for three months is going to be Lagerback's greatest handicap. But the Swede has the experience of leading Sweden into five major championship including the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.
Star Men
Osaze Odemwingie (Locomotiv Moscow);
‘Osas’was remarkable in the later stages of the qualifiers. Fast paced forceful, he has shown a talent for goals. He has been around for sometime, but missed the 2002 squad.
Obafemi Martins (Wolfsburg);
Martins will be playing his first world cup finals in South Africa. He is an inevitable necessity for Nigeria with 15 international goals to his name. Martins is a sharp shooter.
Nwankwo Kanu;
The tall (6'5") mid fielder is a darling of the Nigerians. He represented Nigeria in the 1994 and 1998 editions of the World Cup and led his country to gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Kanu is a live wire on the field even at 34.
Best Footballing Moment
Winning the 1996 Olympics gold at Atlanta, a first for an African country.
World Cup Objective
The round of 16 is the minimum expected. A place in the last eight will be a real.
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