NIGERIA National Football team profile

Nigeria has traditionally held a special place in Africa football, holding the hope of Africa’s success in the World Cup but recent years have diminished that hope.

The Super Eagles as the Nigeria national football team is referred to have always been reach with exceptional talent but have performed minimally as a team in many international competitions, although they have been traditional qualifiers for the World Cup finals.

Many Nigeria fans will love to remember their exploits at USA 94, where they dismantled eventual semi-finalists Bulgaria 3-0 in their first match before going on to cruelly fall 2-1 against Italy in the second round. A similarly quick start in 1998 – they stunned Spain 3-2 in one of the matches of the tournament to start and beat Bulgaria again 1-0 – gave way to another second round defeat, this time a disheartening thumping at the hands of Denmark 4-1. But the Nigeria Team of today has no Sunday Oliseh, Victor Ikpeba, Jay-Jay Okocha, Finidi George, Celestine Babayaro, Omokocha or the Nwanko Kanu at his prime.

“We know that we will have a tough job at the World Cup. We are up against some tough teams like Argentina, with top players like [Lionel] Messi. It’s important for us to prove that we can play our own game against the best,” says Nigeria forward Chinedu Obasi.

The current Nigeria team is not short on talent, but their near failure to qualify for South Africa 2010 will give them less pressure as they look to get out of their Group B where they entertain Argentina on Saturday and later Korea Republic and Greece.

Star players of Nigeria national Football team at 2010 World Cup
Even without the big names of the 90s, the Super Eagles have the ability to score a lot of goals in South Africa behind a pacy, dynamic attack that features the likes of Obafemi Martins, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Peter Odemwingie as well as youngsters Victor Obinna and Ikechukwu Uche and evergreen Nwankwo Kanu in what is surely his last role of the dice. They won’t be a soft touch behind that either, with Jon Obi Mikel anchoring the midfield, and captain Joseph Yobo in the centre of defence.

Nigeria’s Record
• Nigeria’s 3-0 waltz over Bulgaria in their USA 94 debut match was more remarkable given that the Europeans went on to beat Greece, Argentina, Mexico and Germany in the tournament.

• Since Clemens Westerhof built the 1994 side and left the Super Eagles, the team has been coached by such well-known European journeymen as Jo Bonfrere, Philippe Troussier, Bora Milutinovic and Berti Vogts.

• Nigeria have a rich history at other worldwide tournaments, having won the 1985, 1993 and 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup as well as the 1996 Olympic Football Tournament.

Nigeria National Football Team Squad at 2010 FIFA World Cup

Nr.	Name	Date of Birth	Position	Clubs	Height
1	Vincent ENYEAMA	29/08/1982	GK	Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR)	185
2	Joseph YOBO	06/09/1980	DF	Everton (ENG)	185
3	Taye TAIWO	16/04/1985	DF	Marseille (FRA)	188
4	Nwankwo KANU	01/08/1976	MF	Portsmouth (ENG)	197
5	Rabiu AFOLABI	18/04/1980	DF	Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)	183
6	Danny SHITTU	02/09/1980	DF	Bolton Wanderers (ENG)	190
7	John UTAKA	08/01/1982	FW	Portsmouth (ENG)	179
8	Yakubu AIYEGBENI	22/11/1982	FW	Everton (ENG)	188
9	Obafemi MARTINS	28/10/1984	FW	Wolfsburg (GER)	170
10	Brown IDEYE	10/10/1988	FW	Sochaux (FRA)	180
11	Peter ODEMWINGIE	15/07/1981	FW	Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS)	181
12	Kalu UCHE	15/11/1982	MF	Almeria (ESP)	171
13	Yussuf AYILA	04/11/1984	MF	Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)	179
14	Sani KAITA	02/05/1986	MF	Alania Vladikavkaz (RUS)	180
15	Lukman HARUNA	04/12/1990	MF	Monaco (FRA)	177
16	Austin EJIDE	08/04/1984	GK	Hapoel Petah Tikva (ISR)	186
17	Chidi ODIAH	17/12/1983	DF	CSKA Moscow (RUS)	181
18	Victor OBINNA	25/03/1987	FW	Malaga (ESP)	178
19	Chinedu OGBUKE OBASI	01/06/1986	FW	Hoffenheim (GER)	181
20	Dickson ETUHU	08/06/1982	MF	Fulham (ENG)	191
21	Uwa ECHIEJILE	20/01/1988	DF	Rennes (FRA)	198
22	Dele ADELEYE	25/12/1988	DF	Sparta Rotterdam (NED)	189
23	Dele AIYENUGBA	20/11/1983	GK	Bnei Yehuda (ISR)	186