Football Nigeria -- Eagles Etcetera

Finally, the long awaited World Cup qualifier against Cameroon arrives. In a space of a week, Nigeria's Super Eagles will host Cameroon's Indomitable Lions in Uyo and then head to Cameroon for the second encounter. Nigeria needs, perhaps, to win one of those games to have one leg into the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia. The Nigerian players have publicly spoken on beating Cameroon and heading for Russia. However, the time for the "Big Talk" is over. It is now either Nigeria backs up the talk or tuck their tails between their legs and rue missed opportunities to get to Russia. I watched Cameroon huff and puff in a home draw against Zambia in a World Cup qualifier last year. Cameroon was dreadful in that game. If Nigeria had walked into that game on that day, Nigeria would have easily taken the three points. However, Nigeria will now face a very different Cameroon team. A team now overflowing with confidence, playing reasonably well, and coming into the game as th...

In the last few weeks, I have dedicated space to write-ups on Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T) players and coaches of Nigeria based on accomplishments in the senior national team. With this final piece, there are now five volumes of write-ups. In this final volume, I do not identify G.O.A.T. players or coaches. Those already identified can be found by clicking on this link . Instead, this final volume is predictive i.e. it predicts who may be a future G.O.A.T. and those who are current G.O.A.T. but likely to fade in the future. Those likely to Fade Clearly, the G.O.A.T. list is never permanent. It changes as new players come of age, old ones fade away, and new guys outdo achievements of the old. This dynamic process means that the list of G.O.A.T players and coaches in 1995 cannot be the same in 2005 or in 2015 and, thus, the expectation is the G.O.A.T today will surely change in the future. In any case, I want to examine those who have been listed as G.O.A.T starters or hono...

Nigeria senior national team has a remarkable history of numerous managers, several barely lasting a few years at the helm. Sifting through the list of managers and their accomplishments is not especially difficult because Nigeria has won very few championships at the senior level. However, it has to be noted that winning championships, though important, is not the only criterion used in determining the G.O.A.T. among Nigerian coaches. It is important to look at their efficiency scores, particularly in competitive games and games played away from home. Finalists The initial list for G.O.A.T included the following: Shuaibu Amodu, Josef Ember, Otto Gloria, Stephen Keshi, Jorge Penna, Jelisavcic "Father Tiko" Tihomir, and Clemens Westerhoff. Each finalist distinguished himself in one way or the other. Either he was consistently good with the team or won a championship or performed remarkably in a tournament with the team. There are coaches like Eguavoen and Bonfrere who h...