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The Nigerian national football team is nicknamed the Super Eagles. They are two times African champions,1980 and 1994 respectively. The Super Eagles have been finalists on four other occasions. Three of their four loses have ironically been to Cameroon, leading to an intense rivalry between the two nations.
Nigeria made her world cup debut in 1994, parading players such as Finidi George, Daniel Amokachi, Rashidi Yekini, Daniel Amunike, J J Okocha and Sunday Oliseh. In their opening game they demolished a Hristo Stoichkov led Bulgaria by 3:0 with goals from Yekini, Amokachi and Amunike. In the second group game they faced a Maradona led Argentina, and were narrowly defeated by 1:2 having first taken the lead. They proceeded to the knock out stages by beating Greece in their final group game 2:0. The second round saw the Super Eagles face eventual winners Italy. Again having taken the lead they ended up 1:2 losers after extra time.
Nigeria made successive world cup appearances in 1998, where again they were eliminated in the second round, and 2002 where they exited the competition at the group stage.
During the 2010 African Nations Cup/World Cup qualifications, the super eagles were grouped alongside Tunisia, Mazambique and Kenya in Group B. As huge favourites, they however strugled to qualify. They needed a win against Kenya and a Tunisia defeat to Mozambigue on the last day of matches to qualify.
The super eagles were eliminated in the semi finals of the African Nations Cup, Angola (Jan-Feb '10) (match report here)
Considering the players they have available and high expectations of the nation, the NFA felt it had no alternative but to sack coach Amodu.
For the World Cup, coach Lagerback of Sweden has been appointed to lead the team.
During preparations for the tournament, Mikel Obi, arguably the best player in the team, asked to be cut. Recovering from a knee injury he felt he would not fully recover to participate in the tournament and did not want to put his career at risk Mikel is out of World Cup.
The team still expects to perform very well at the tournament. They are in Group B alongside Greece, Argentina, and South Korea. Full Squad:
Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel Tel Aviv/ISR), Dele Aiyenugba (Bnei Yehuda/ISR), Austin Ejide (Hapoel Petah Tikva/ISR) Defenders: Taye Taiwo (Olympique Marseille/FRA), Elderson Echiejile (Rennes/FRA), Chidi Odiah (CSKA Moscow/RUS), Joseph Yobo (Everton/ENG), Daniel Shittu (Bolton Wanderers/ENG), Ayodele Adeleye (Sparta Rotterdam/NED), Rabiu Afolabi (SV Salzburg/AUS) Midfielders: Kalu Uche (Almeria/SPA), Dickson Etuhu (Fulham/ENG), Sani Kaita (Alaniya/RUS), Haruna Lukman (AS Monaco/FRA), Yusuf Ayila (Dynamo Kiev/UKR) Strikers: Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton/ENG), Chinedu Obasi (TSG Hoffenheim/GER), Nwankwo Kanu, John Utaka (Portsmouth/ENG), Obafemi Martins (Wolfsburg/GER), Obinna Nsofor (Malaga/SPA), Osaze Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia)
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