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Nigeria
Nigeria has emerged as a football superpower in the last 10 years, having now qualified for its third straight World Cup.
The African nation also won the Olympic gold medal in Atlanta in 1996, beating Brazil and Argentina on the way. The potential is there, but how high can the Super Eagles Fly?
As the countdown to the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan continues, CNNSI.com's Pedro Pinto will take a close look at all of the nations that will contend for football's greatest prize.
Pinto is an anchor on World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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Speed, athleticism, skill... they are all present in the Nigerian side. With players like Jay-Jay Okocha, Finidi George, Nwankwo Kanu and Victor Agali around, the green and white army can be deadly coming forward. But it can be equally inoffensive. That is Nigeria's problem -- inconsistency. And it was evident in the qualifying phase, where they started off poorly, losing to Liberia and Sierra Leone (!) only to get their act together late, winning their last three games by scoring nine goals and conceding none. Local coach Amodu Shaibu has to make sure that he can motivate and organize his troops well before they get lost in the later stages. Look at what happened in 1998, when they beat Spain and Bulgaria in the group phase but were then embarrassed by Denmark 4-1 in the second round.
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Okocha. At The Paris-Saint Germain man is the wings of the Super Eagles... they fly where he takes them. His passing is superb and his skill effervescent, but he must finish more consistently. He has been in and out of favor with the Nigeria coaching staff, and always has a knack for being controversial, but he is infinitely talented and can win a match by himself.
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Experience. Nigeria is only playing in its third World Cup and has yet to taste the latter stages of this event. Therefore they lack stability in high-pressure situations. Players like Okocha, Taribo West and Sunday Oliseh have to lead by example and organize the team during games if they are to have any chances of going far in 2002.
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Kanu. Who is Nwankwo Kanu? The inspirational and talented forward who won the '96 Olympics for Nigeria virtually by himself? Or the lethargic front man who shows up for Arsenal in many Premiership matches? That Kanu can do anything with a football everyone knows, but whether he can do it consistently is a whole different story. If he is looking lean and mean before the finals, watch out because he could light the cup on fire. Otherwise, he could be sitting on the bench.
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Nigeria played 10 qualifying matches. In the final stage, it finished first in Group B with 16 points from eight matches -- winning five, drawing one and losing two. The team scored 15 goals and conceded three.
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Nigeria made the second round in '94 and '98, the two previous editions it has qualified for. In '94, it lost to Italy in the second round. In France, it lost to Denmark. Nigeria's overall record is four wins, two draws and two losses.
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On paper, Nigeria has what it takes to make the quarterfinals, and I would not be shocked if it did. But whether it can make such a run is a mystery. The Super Eagles should have no problem scoring goals with the caliber of their attack, but their defense will struggle to hold up against he world's top strikers. The lack of experience will be exploited by world-class opponents; it's only a matter of when. You can be sure of one thing, though: they will be fun to watch.
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