Tunde Folawiyo

With the World Cup upon us, fans of Nigeria’s Super Eagles like Tunde Folawiyo are no doubt wondering how well the team will perform at the tournament. A number of players and NFF officials have voiced their opinions on the subject; Vincent Enyeama, the Eagles’ goalkeeper, is optimistic about their chances, and has publically stated that he believes they will reach the semi-finals. However, he was quick to add that he and his teammates will be taking it step by step, and for now will only be focusing on reaching the second round.

Like Enyeama, Victor Moses is hoping that Nigeria will secure a spot at the semi-finals. Moses, who currently serves as a winger for Chelsea, is cautiously optimistic about the team’s ability to get ahead at the tournament, although he noted that this could only be achieved if they are willing to listen to the advice of their coach, Stephen Keshi. He finished by saying that there is a great deal of camaraderie between the players, and that this will be helpful when it comes to attempting to realise their ambitions at the event.

Gustavo Dzugala, who was recently appointed as Nigeria’s Argentina Ambassador, refused to comment on which team would emerge as the ultimate winner of the tournament; however, he did name Nigeria and Argentina as favourites in Group F. He predicted that these two clubs would manage to defeat Iran and Bosnia.

In terms of individual players, Peter Osaze Odemwingie has been named as someone who is likely to outshine his teammates at the tournament. Emmanuel Babayaro, who once served as Nigeria’s goalkeeper, noted that Odemwingie has a number of qualities that will help the Eagles to succeed in Brazil. He described the forward as dedicated, experienced and confident.

Odemwingie’s recall to the squad after a two-year absence is likely to have come as a surprise to Tunde Folawiyo, and other Eagles supporters. The forward has clashed not only with Keshi, but also with other Eagles coaches over the years. However, Odemwingie seems eager to put these tiffs behind him, and has spoken on Twitter of how happy he is to be back with the team. While some remain sceptical of Odemwingie’s humble words, and have argued that he is merely putting on a front in order to get a place in the World Cup squad, there’s no denying that he will be a valuable asset on the pitch.

While supporters of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, like Tunde Folawiyo, are probably looking forward to the team’s participation in the World Cup, some say that they are simply not ready for what lies ahead. Adokiye Amiesimaka, a former player who was a member of the team during the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations, has argued that the NFF and the club’s coaches should have been focusing more on the technical crew, and less on the squad list.

Samson Siasia, a former coach of the team, has also expressed his views on Nigeria’s chances at the World Cup. He contends that in the group stages, Iran are likely to be the Eagles’ most challenging opponents. They will face them in their first game of the tournament. Like Amiesimaka, Siasia noted that the technical crew need to work harder to ensure that Nigeria defeat this team. He suggested that the crew obtain a compilation of Iran’s past matches, in order to formulate the right type of tactical plan.

However, it seems that for most people it is the squad list, rather than the technical crew’s strategies, which has been occupying their minds. As a fan of the club, Tunde Folawiyo may have heard that the NFF are said to have rejected coach Stephen Keshi’s original squad list, on the grounds that he failed to include several key players, notably Peter Osaze Odemwingie and Joseph Yobo. Keshi tried to explain the reasons behind his decision to exclude these men, stating that there were issues regarding their fitness, and their recent injuries. However, the NFF asserted that the experience of these players would make them valuable assets to the team at the tournament.

Joseph Yobo has also assured the public that he will be physically fit for the World Cup, despite having missed out on several matches in recent weeks due to a calf injury. Yobo, who currently serves as a defender for Norwich City, has said that he has returned to full training and will be healthy enough to participate in the tournament.

However, while this announcement may have allayed fears regarding the player’s physical fitness, some still have doubts about his ability to positively contribute to the squad; Kashimawo Laloko, who works as the NFF’s assistant technical director, seems to agree with Keshi’s initial decision to exclude Yobo; he has argued that the defender will weaken the team.

As a supporter of Nigeria’s national football team, Tunde Folawiyo was no doubt disappointed when their recent clash with Greece ended with neither side having scored. However, although the Eagles failed to net any goals, they performed well in terms of defending themselves; Greece only had one clear opportunity to score, during the 83rd minute, when Salpingidis’ header resulted in the ball going just over the bar.

Initially, it seemed as though Greece might take the lead when, in the 7th minute, a quick pass from Karagounis to Fetfatzidis went unnoticed by the Eagles. However, Fetfatzidis’s shot was inaccurate, and never made it into the net. Three minutes later, things seemed to be looking up for Nigeria, when they were awarded a free kick, that was taken by Emenike, but a weak shot by the striker meant that the team failed to gain the upper hand.

The remainder of the match was filled with missed opportunities, as both sides struggled to break down their opponents’ defensive line. Towards the end, Nigeria resorted to taking shots from long range, rather than attempting to get closer to the goal post, but this approach proved fruitless. Things went from bad to worse after Echiejile suffered an injury on the pitch and had to sit out the rest of the game.

After the match, Eagles coach Stephen Keshi expressed some disappointment with the team’s performance, noting that his players would have to improve very quickly if they wished to succeed at the World Cup. He acknowledged that every team has bad matches now and again, and added that perhaps this less-than-perfect game would motivate the players to work harder during the tournament. He finished by saying that the purpose of a friendly is to help a team unearth its weaknesses, and this is precisely what happened during the Eagles’ battle against Greece.

Despite his words, Keshi might be regretting his choice of squad members, given their performance in this match. Eagles fans such as Tunde Folawiyo were probably quite surprised at the manager’s decision to exclude midfielders Joel Obi and Nosa Igiebor, as well as Sunday Mba, who played extraordinarily well during the African Nations Cup. However, Keshi explained that he could not be sentimental when making his choices, and had to base his decisions on players’ recent performances.

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.

In Nigeria, non-sport has gripped the national imagination the way that football has. It is the country’s most popular sport by a landslide. A larger percent of the country’s population are fans of the sport than in any other country in the world, a recent market poll has shown. The country’s national team, nicknamed the Super Eagles, received the highest ranking any African football team has earned in 1994, when the FIFA World Rankings showed the team in fifth world-wide. The team is currently ranked at fifth in the Confederation of African Football, and 39^th worldwide. Fans of football in Nigeria, including Tunde Folawiyo, are looking forward to seeing the team live up to its potential. For more information, please visit this Tunde Folawiyo blog.

Unofficial games among other African colonies start Nigeria’s national football history in the 1930s, and official records start in the late 1940s. The team’s history as champions began with a win at the second All-Africa games, where the team was awarded the gold medal in 1976. Strong showings at the African Cup of Nations followed, and the team took their first Cup in 1980, led by Muda Lawal. A treasured moment in Nigerian National Football history is the team’s Olympic gold in Atlantic in 1996. The team played its first World Cup in 1994. In this year’s Cup, Nigeria opened with a tie against Iran before a 0-1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina showed the team their first World Cup victory since 1998. The winning goal was scored by Peter Odemwingie, who was born in the former Soviet Union and raised in Russia and Nigeria. Odemwingie has played for the Nigerian National Team since 2002.

The Nigerian women’s national team has also been a force in the sport. The team has never failed to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and won the CAF Women’s Championship every year it ran, until breaking their streak with a defeat by Equatorial Guinea in 2008. As with the men’s team, outstanding players for the women’s team have also had successful careers playing internationally. Mercy Akide went on to play for the San Diego Spirit and the Hampton Road Piranhas, and current team captain and CAF African Women Footballer of the Year in 2004 and 2005 Perpetua Nkwocha also plays for Swedish club Sunnana SK.