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FIFA World Cup: Testing time for Nigeria
The Super Eagles is the only African survivor from the 2014 FIFA World Cup
By
migrator
migrator
Abuja
Nigeria is the only African team returning to the World Cup finals after playing in Brazil four years ago and must get past a familiar foe if it wants to reach the second round again.
Nigeria has been paired with Argentina for the fifth time in six World Cup appearances, having finished second to Lionel Messi and his team in its group at the 2014 finals and advancing to the last 16, where it lost to France. Getting past the group stage is the minimum target for Nigeria but it will also have to get the better of tough European pair Croatia and Iceland if it is to advance.
The Super Eagles come into the tournament after defeating Argentina 4-2 in a friendly in Krasnodar last November and beating Poland away in March. It also had to come through a World Cup qualifying group that included Algeria, which also got to the last 16 in Brazil, Zambia, and reigning African champion Cameroon. But, the concern is it has lost three of its last four matches.
“We have some exceptional players. We’ve found the right cocktail, the good mix between youth and experience,” said coach Gernot Rohr after Nigeria finished five points clear at the top of its qualifying group. The German coach, whose quiet demeanour belies a steely approach, has successfully brought order and routine to a previously chaotic set-up. He has also elevated emerging talent quickly into key roles in the team.
“We decided to integrate a lot of young people; players like Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho and others who were already at big clubs,” he said. “With these new players and some old ones, we built a team that is solid.” As part of a smoother, stronger administrative set-up this time around, Nigeria had implemented an extensive World Cup warm-up schedule.
It has also attempted to head off the distractions that have hampered previous campaigns, notably arguments over money. But the team always carry an unrealistic burden of expectation when it goes to the World Cup, with the vast majority of Nigeria’s population of 186 million demanding some measure of success.
Nigeria has advanced past the first round three times but never reached the last eight –- which remains the benchmark of African achievement at the World Cup.
FIFA ranking: 48
Previous tournaments: Nigeria is appearing at its sixth World Cup finals, having missed only one tournament since it first qualified in 1994. It has got past the first round three times — on its debut appearance in the United States in 1994, four years later in France and again in Brazil. In 1994, it was just minutes from beating Italy and reaching the quarter-finals before giving up an equaliser and going on to lose after extra time.
Form guide: A six-match unbeaten run for Nigeria ended when Serbia beat it 2-0 in a World Cup warm-up game in London in March. Its preparatory programme before Russia includes a 4-2 victory over Argentina in Krasnodar in November and 1-0 away over Poland in Wroclaw in March. It has lost three of its last four games.
Prospects: Nigeria is in Group D where it faces Croatia, Iceland and, in its final game, Argentina. The meeting with the Argentines in St Petersburg is the fifth match-up between the two countries in Nigeria’s six World Cup finals appearances. As a team that feed on confidence, success in its opening encounter on June 16 against Croatia is key to its chances of advancing.
Moses overcomes trauma to turn into talisman
Victor Moses has overcome childhood trauma to forge a career that has seen him play at the highest levels of the game and return in glory to the country he once fled.
Moses was only 11 when his missionary parents were killed in religious rioting in Kaduna, in north-west Nigeria, leaving him orphaned and allowed into Britain as a refugee, where he lived with a foster family. His footballing ability offered him the opportunity to go to public school on a scholarship organised by Crystal Palace, where manager Neil Warnock gave him a league debut at the age of 16.
He was also quickly capped by England at junior level, playing up the ranks from under-16 to under-21 level, where he was substituted at halftime on his debut and then not called up for the next game. By then he had already spurned overtures from Nigeria, as he sought to concentrate on his club career. However, the rejection from England prompted a change of heart when the Nigerian federation asked again.
He quickly agreed to switch his allegiance and went back to Nigeria, in early 2012, for the first time in 10 years to play for the national team. Just over a year later Moses had helped Nigeria to win the 2013 African Nations Cup and in the five subsequent years he has evolved into the key player in the line-up as he heads to his second successive World Cup.
Chelsea bought him for 10 million pounds ($13.5 million) in 2012 and after loan spells at Liverpool, Stoke City and West Ham United the 27-year-old has now established himself as a Stamford Bridge regular, featuring in this season’s Champions League campaign as well.
“He is a world-class player and you can rely on him any time and any moment he is playing. He is the most impressive player in my team,” said Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr.
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