Nigerian Football Fandom Strong as Ever
Nigeria, as the most populated country on a continent obsessed with football, has ever-high hopes for its national team. The “Super Eagles” saw a 2013 victory in the Africa Cup of Nations over Burkina Faso. Nigeria has appeared in the Africa Cup of Nations six times prior, and won twice previously, in 1980, and 1994. The 2013 victory spurred a strong team spirit approaching this summer’s World Cup, and coach Stephen Keshi, one of only two people to have one the Africa Cup of Nations as a player and then as a coach, headed into the contest confident in his team.
The Super Eagles first made the World Cup in 1994, and have returned every Cup since, except for 2006. Their 2014 showing began with a draw to Iran, and the next match, against Bosnia, saw Peter Odemwingie score a goal that secured the team’s first win in a FIFA World Cup since 1998. Odemwingie, who grew up in Russia and Nigeria, debuted with the Nigerian National Football team in 2002, after a promising start with Nigeria Premier League’s Bendel Insurance. The Nigerian National Team went on to lose to Argentina after holding strong until Marcos Rojo scoring a third for Argentina in the second half. Nigeria did qualify for the last 16, but was ultimately knocked out by France.
Despite this setback, the nation’s football fans have not turned their backs. The team, in fact, was recently described by BusinessWeek as a contender for the world’s “most crazed soccer nation.” A new poll showed that over eighty percent of Nigerians report being fans of the sport, a level of interest that dominates second-runner Indonesia (about seventy-seven percent). Nigeria scored top numbers among the thirty-three nations pooled in the percent of population who report that they play football–a whopping sixty-five percent of Nigerians regularly participate in the sport. The head of research on the survey postulates that Nigeria’s football obsession comes from the lack of competition–no other sport in Nigeria holds nearly the cultural sway.
In a country composed of hundreds of varied ethnic groups, love of the game brings citizens together despite their differences. Almost twenty-five percent of Nigerian adults tuned in to watch the World Cup. The team’s fan’s include Nigerian businessman Tunde Folawiyo, head of the Yinka Folawiyo group, who grew up cheering for Segun Odegbemi. Tunde Folawiyo joins the team’s many fans in Africa and around the world in looking forward to their continued success.
Tags: Africa Cup of Nations, FIFA World Cup, football fans, Nigeria National Football Team, Nigeria's football obsession, Nigerian Football Fandom, Nigerian National Team, sporting generation, Super Eagles, Tunde Folawiyo, tunde folawiyo africa, tunde folawiyo film festival, World Cup