Nigeria’s outstanding achievements in the world of football mean that the history of world football will never be complete without her. The African giant has accomplished what several nations, both developed and developing, have not been able to do. She needs FIFA’s assistance in order to carry out her reforms of football and restore the competitiveness of her national teams.
Given the nation’s ranking and prior successes in both male and female football, Nigerian teams’ recent results in both continental and international competition have been abhorrent. For instance, the Nigerian Golden Eaglets were the first team in history to win the U-16 world cup in China in 1985; they have since won three of these tournaments and participated in three further championship matches.
The U-20 national team has also participated in the final in two tournaments (Saudi ’89 and Netherlands 2005), and they accomplished the biggest comeback in U-20 history when they defeated the USSR on penalties after falling behind 4-0. The U-23 team defeated Brazil and Argentina in the semifinal and final, respectively, to become the first African team to win an Olympic gold medal (Atlanta ’96).
The Super Eagles made their FIFA globe Cup debut in USA ’94, and after dazzling the globe with their football prowess, they were chosen as the most entertaining team. They were even ranked as the fifth-best squad in the world by FIFA. The Super Eagles have already won four silver medals (1984, 1988, 1990, and 2000), two African Nations Cup championships (1980 and 1994), and seven bronze medals.
The Female National Team (The Falcons) has competed in every Women’s World Cups to date as well as all Women’s Olympic Football Competitions. They have won five straight African Women Championship championships (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006). They even advanced to the quarterfinals of the USA ’99 Female World Cup before being defeated by the Brazilian Samba girls. All of the female U-20 world cups have also been attended by the female U-20.
The nation also successfully hosted two Nations Cup competitions (1980 and 2000), the World U-20 Championship (1999), and the World U-17 Championship (2009).
The fortunes of the Nigerian national teams, however, have recently declined; in 2008, the Super Eagles had their worst Nations’ cup performance in Ghana, failing to take home a trophy for the first time since 1984. The U-20 squad didn’t get past the second round in Egypt (2009), while the U-17 team didn’t make it to the African championship after losing to a lesser-known Benin Republic in the qualifying rounds (they only took part in the world cup as the host nation in 2009).
Equatorial Guinea defeated our female team, The Falcons, in the previous African women’s championship, and they didn’t even make it to the championship game.
The Super Eagles were unable to proceed past the group stage in South Africa 2010 after losing to Argentina and Greece. As a result, Greece became the first nation to win a world cup match. The team’s performance was less than stellar, and soccer fans from all over the world have criticised it.
Therefore, rather than starting a civil war with Nigeria, the world football regulatory body should assist the government of that country in its efforts to modernise sport. We are aware that without Africa’s strongest team, competitions would not be thrilling, but we must also keep in mind that it would be absurd for us to compete if we were to lose badly. Therefore, it makes sense for the nation to return to the drawing board for a while in order to try to come up with a solution to enhance the fortunes of her teams.
They would emerge from their complete self-reorganization more entertaining, result-oriented, and well-focused. They would bring colour to FIFA-sponsored competitions and help draw more spectators, which would increase FIFA’s revenue. Africa would be pleased if Nigeria made a comeback and continued to win trophies for her. For more details https://worldoffootball.in/
