FIFA World Cup-Why Nigeria’s Super Eagles are condemned to qualify
By Dr. Salau Dee Elf (NUGA Publicity Liaison Officer 1993-2001)
Nigeria will return to the stable to continue its quest for a place at the glamorous 2026 FIFA Football World Cup soon. The football loving country will take on South Africa on Friday. 7th June 2024 and Benin Republic on Monday, 10th June 2024. The two legged matches will determine if the performance of the Super Eagles (getting to the finals) at the 2023 African Cup of Nations AFCON is not a fluke
The Qualifier match with the Bafana Bafana of South Africa will definitely rekindle the rivalry between the two Countries. Nigeria defeated South Africa at the recently concluded African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. This defeat was well celebrated by Nigerians who now believed that their dream Super Eagles has landed.
This will be a test case for the recently employed Chief Coach of the team Finidi George. Winning the Bafana Bafana of South Africa will not only be the confirmation of the Super Eagles superiority over our South African team but a good way to commence the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches.
The second match against Benin will be a crucial one as our neighbors always want to prove a point anytime they play against Nigeria.
However, this is the time for the Super Eagles to put their house in order and not underrate any team in these qualifiers. Nigeria is condemned to qualify for the 2026 World Cup given the array of Stars players the country parades in big leagues all over the world. In the English, Spanish, Italian, German and other leagues, they have proven to be of sterling qualities this season. Luckily, we have limited injuries to these players.
With the combination of a brand new Manager who was also a former Super Eagles player, the team will have no excuse not to qualify for the World Cup. We must however desist from being complacent during the first two matches.
The listing of 35 crack players out of which 25 will eventually be picked for the two matches by Coach Finidi George testifies to the importance attached to the qualifying matches.
The era of struggling to qualify for the World Cup must be a thing of the past now. We should be able to combine the array of football players we have at this period to prosecute the qualifiers successfully. This is the time for us to prove that our having first class players in the best leagues all over the world is not a fluke. Fly high the Super Eagles.
Dr Salau Dee Elf writes from Lagos | [email protected]
