Continental dominance and seeking to establish themselves outside Africa
Nigeria have enjoyed great success in Africa over the years; notably winning the African Cup of Nations three times, including the most recent edition in 2013. However, with regards to the World Cup, they have never progressed past the round of 16, something that they accomplished during their debut at USA 1994 and again four years later in France. As a result of their performances during their first World Cup qualifying campaign, at one point in April 1994, the West African nation reached an impressive fifth in FIFA's world rankings, the highest ever achieved by any side from the continent.
Yet, after their two good outings, the Super Eagles followed it up with a disappointing group stage exit in 2002, failure to even qualify in 2006, and then another poor showing in the 2010 edition held in South Africa. And both times in which they failed to reach the knock-out rounds, they finished dead last in their groups.
Presently, the reigning African Cup of Nations winners are ranked sixth within the CAF, behind fellow World Cup competitors the Ivory Coast, Algeria, and Ghana, but ahead of Cameroon and 44th in the world as per FIFA's most recent list as of May 8th.
Preparing for their fifth World Cup appearance
In terms of qualifying, Nigeria's high ranking by FIFA allowed the Super Eagles to begin their campaign during the second round. They easily finished top of their group that also contained Malawi, Kenya, and Namibia with three wins and three draws that saw them earn 12 points. After, it was on to the play-offs, where they ousted Ethiopia 4-1 on aggregate over both legs.
Yet, their friendlies to prepare for the upcoming World Cup have not yielded positive results, but at the same time, they are not exactly negative per se, either. All their meetings in 2014, first with Mexico, then Scotland, and most recently Greece have ended in stalemates. In fact, in their friendly played yesterday evening in Philadelphia, the Super Eagles were held to a rather frustrating 0-0 draw by, not surprisingly, a staunchly defensive Greek outfit. Still, with another friendly with the United States coming up, they will have another opportunity to try and get things right before heading to Brazil.
Nigeria will take on the US on June 7th in their last friendly before the World Cup
While this shows they can keep a clean sheet, it also demonstrates an inability to contend with teams that will pretty much sit deep and put all their men behind the ball. Now, given that they are facing off against familiar foes Argentina, Iran and Bosnia in their group--teams not known really for "parking the bus"--Super Eagles fans may think that their team will be able to find the back of the net. However, given the strong attacking nature of Messi's Argentina in particular, Nigeria will really have to take advantage of any goal-scoring opportunities that come their way.
The captain, his troops, and their commander
Nigeria will be captained through their fifth World Cup appearance by Lille's star goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama. The 31-year-old is undoubtedly the star of his side and Ligue 1 fans will definitely be familiar with his impressive showings with his club this season, including nearly coming close--within 114 minutes--of breaking a 21 year record for clean sheets set by Gaetan Hurd.
Enyeama is also quite familiar with Argentina and its talismanic captain Messi, having faced off against them four years ago in South Africa. Most notably, he did what many keepers are unable to do: keeping the four-time Ballon d'Or winner off the score sheet. And although he was unable to prevent his side from bowing out, he earned praise worldwide and even from then Argentina coach Diego Maradona for making six key saves, four against the Barcelona ace.
In terms of personnel, Stephen Keshi's choices for his final 23 did raise quite a few eyebrows in Nigeria, especially with players such as Michael Babatunde, Uche Nwofor, and Kunle Odunlami making the cut at the expense of fan favorites such as Ejike Uzoenyi. Nonetheless, Super Eagles supporters will be waiting and seeing how this squad performs in Brazil before making any real judgements.
Keshi, who has been the coach of the national side in 2011, is a former defender who spent much of his playing days abroad in Belgium and had gained some experience coaching fellow African nations Togo and Mali before assuming his post three years ago. In 2013, his victory in the African Cup of Nations made him the second man to win the trophy both as a player and coach, with the first being Egypt's Mahmoud El-Gohary.
First up on the agenda in Brazil will be Iran, and this is a match that obviously Nigeria will need to win before taking on debutants Bosnia followed by Argentina in Group F.
Where to catch them in action
Want to stay on top of all Nigeria's matches this summer? Visit their match page to find out times and channels for your specific country.
