Football Nigeria -- Eagles Etcetera

There is no disputing the pedigree of Nigeria's 1994 national team that was ranked No.5 in the world, won the Cup for African Nations (AFCON), and reached the last 16 at the World Cup. Clearly, no Nigerian team has come close before and since then. Although, there are those who may argue that the 2013 team comes close but certainly not in the minds of a great number of Nigerian teams that witnessed that 1994 team. But having stated the above, it is arguable whether that 1994 team can be classified as Africa's best squad ever in spite of its lofty No. 5 ranking back then. Some may well argue that the team's failure to overcome Italy at the 1994 World Cup forever condemns the team to a place in the rankings behind the three African teams that have ventured to the last 8 of a World Cup. But should statistics and records be the deciding factors on this issue of Africa's best? Well, lets take a look. The Argument for Quantification For an examination of quantitati...

The AFCON 2019 is over and Nigeria finished in third-place, a position that has become attached to Nigeria's performance at the AFCON across historical times. In spite of the noise surrounding whether Manager Gernot Rohr should stay or leaved, the essence of this blog is not on Manager Rohr but on matters that extend beyond Rohr. But first, let's take another look at the 2019 AFCON. The Issue of "Youngest Squad" and Championship Expectation The idea that Nigeria may have taken the youngest squad to the tournament does not mean that the aspiration was not to win the championship. The reality is that Nigeria is always one of the favorites when it comes to being at the AFCON tournament. Importantly, this Nigerian team, on the average, is actually older than the Nigerian team that won the 1980 AFCON! Thus, being the youngest team does not preclude ability to win a tournament like the AFCON. Chasing Egypt, Cameroon, and Ghana: Is it a Bridge Too Far? Thos...