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| Super Eagles |
The dawn of a new epoch was announced as a crop of that
Golden team went on to win the 1996 Atlanta Olympics led by the lanky,
ebullient Kanu Nwankwo- Ask Dida and he will tell you… no comment!
Many of them
were already playing abroad in top leagues. There was Victor Ikpeba with AS
Monaco, Rashidi Yekini with Victoria Setubal, Finidi George in Ajax, Daniel
Amokachi with Club Brugge and Austin Jay-Jay Okocha with Eintracht Frankfurt to
mention but a few. They played with swagger; they were nothing short of
sensational.
Young and fearless, Nigeria reached her highest in the FIFA
ranking that same year coming fifth side by side with the likes of Argentina,
Brazil and Italy. They went on to stun at the FIFA World Cup leading a group
that included Argentina, Bulgaria and Greece- Their good work only undone by
much resilient and experienced Italians who were made to work like horses for
their pay. The 2013 AFCON winning team matched their feat in the 2014 World Cup
in Brazil losing out in the second round to France. Make no mistake, they were good
but nothing compared to them- Safe to
say they never reached that height. The current crop skippered by John Mikel
Obi- a golden boy himself and German coach Gernot Rohr could be the real deal. With
so many exciting young talents at hand, the German’s headache is just how to
get the best out of them. Gifted with the outstanding Alex Iwobi- likened to
his skilful uncle Jay-Jay and the powerful Edgar Davids by Ozil, he has guile
and is a massive weapon for destruction. He doesn’t only play first team football;
he is one of the first names on Wenger’s team sheet.
Now, take a deep breath for that Manchester City wonderkid
Kelechi Iheanacho will take it away. With most football-loving Nigerians already
familiar with his burgeoning talent following his exploit with the U-17 in 2013,
he has become an Eagle at such a young age. Edin Dzeko and Wilfred Bony found game
time hard to come by, why? Because of the Nigerian. He is the jewel of the
Citizens. Nominated for the Golden boy award- you know what that means, both players
are the shining light of Nigerian football. There is so much promise in the team, so much
talent yet to be unearthed and tapped into. And yes, for every Iheanacho or
Iwobi that have featured, there is a Success, Awoniyi or Osimhen lying in wait.
Nigerian talents abound all around the World.
Troost-Ekong is manning the defense
alongside Leon Balogun with the error prone Omeruo an enigma already. At such a
young age of 22, he captains his club side Haegesund, despite being on a one
year loan deal at the club- He has power. Belgian league prodigies, Moses Simon
of Gent, Wilferd Ndidi of Genk are both to reckon with in the Pro league. So is
the lightning paced Leicester City’s Ahmed Musa not to talk about the
rejuvenated Victor Moses. The Algerian national team will have their hands
full. Doing relatively well with their respective club sides, Super Eagles is brimming
with players set for the next adventure of their various careers.
They breezed through
the challenge at Ndola, Zambia- A game that showed the tactical prowess of Rohr
as well as his weakness. Sterner tests await though with African heavyweights
Algeria and Cameroon in the World Cup qualifying group posing a big threat to
survival. Qualification is an uphill task but not impossible and sealing
qualification would only strengthen their credentials as the new Golden generation. Going through their own revolution, Algeria also have their Golden generation on show. First in the CAF
rankings, they are probably the strongest team on the continent, they are the
ultimate test.
However, as there is with the chance of surpassing the ’94 class,
there is also every chance of faltering along the way. There is renewed
optimism about the prospects from every quarter. Ready to make Nigerians proud, they will make us dream again.
About Fedamin
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