Nigeria national football team

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Nigeria

Nickname(s)	Super Eagles
Association	Nigeria Football Association
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Head coach	Shaibu Amodu
Captain	Nwankwo Kanu
Most caps	Mudashiru Lawal (86)
Top scorer	Rashidi Yekini (37)
Home stadium	Abuja Stadium
FIFA code	NGA
FIFA ranking	34
Highest FIFA ranking	5 (April 1994)
Lowest FIFA ranking	82 (November 1999)
Elo ranking	33
Highest Elo ranking	14 (31 May 2004)
Lowest Elo ranking	87 (27 December 1964)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Nigeria 2 – 0 Sierra Leone Freetown, Sierra Leone; (8 October 1949)
Biggest win
Nigeria 10 – 1 Dahomey (Lagos, Nigeria; 28 November 1959)
Biggest defeat
Gold Coast 7 – 0 Nigeria (Accra, Ghana; 1 June 1955)
World Cup
Appearances	3 (First in 1994)
Best result	Round of 16, 1994 and 1998
African Nations Cup
Appearances	15 (First in 1963)
Best result	Winners, 1980 and 1994
Confederations Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 1995)
Best result	4th, 1995
Honours Olympic medal record Competitor for  Nigeria Men’s Football[1] Gold 1996 Atlanta Team Silver 2008 Beijing Team

The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). According to FIFA's rankings, Nigeria, at 23rd, are currently the second best team in the African continent, behind Cameroon (16th). The highest position ever reached on the ranking was 5th in April 1994.

Contents 1 History 1.1 1994 World Cup 1.2 1998 World Cup 1.3 2002 World Cup 1.4 African Nations Cup 2 Achievements 2.1 World Cup record 2.2 Confederations Cup record 2.3 African Cup of Nations record 3 Current squad 3.1 Recent call-ups 4 Managers 5 Top goalscorers 6 Recent results (last 12 months) 6.1 Friendly matches 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

Nigeria played their first official game in October 1949, whilst still a British colony. The team played warmup games in England against various amateur teams like Dulwich Hamlet, Bishop Auckland and South Liverpool. The team's first major success was a gold medal in the 2nd All-Africa games, with 3rd place finishes in 1976 and 1978's African Cup of Nations to follow. In 1980 the team had such players as Leyton Orient's John Chiedozie and Tunji Banjo, and the Muda Lawal / Christian Chukwu-led Super Eagles won the Cup for the first time in Lagos. In 1984 and 1988, Nigeria reached the Cup of Nations final, losing both times to Cameroon. Three of the four African titles won by Cameroon have been won by defeating Nigeria. Missing out to Cameroon on many occasions has created an intense rivalry between both nations. Two notable occasions; narrowly losing out on qualification for 1990 World Cup and then the controversial final of the 2000 African Nations Cup where a goal scored by Victor Ikpeba during a penalty shoot out was disallowed by the referee.

[edit] 1994 World Cup

Nigeria finally reached the World Cup for the first time in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. They were managed by Clemens Westerhof who is commonly considered to be the best coach to have ever lead Nigeria. Nigeria topped their group which included Argentina, Bulgaria, and Greece. In their first game Nigeria defeated Bulgaria 3-0, lost to Argentina 2-1, and qualified for the second round after a 2-0 defeat of Greece. In the second round Nigeria played Italy and took the lead with a goal from Amunike at 25 min. Nigeria were within one minute of qualifying for the Quarter finals of 1994 World Cup in the game against Italy but Roberto Baggio scored to take the game to extra time. He also scored the eventual winning goal.

[edit] 1998 World Cup

In 1998 Nigeria returned to the World Cup alongside Cameroon, Morocco, Tunisia, and South Africa. Optimism was high due to their manager Bora Milutinovc and the return of most 1994 squad members. In the final tournament Nigeria were drawn into group D with Spain, Bulgaria, Paraguay. Nigeria scored a major upset by defeating Spain 3-2 after coming back twice from being 1-0 and 2-1 down. The Eagles qualified for the second round with win against Bulgaria and loss to Paraguay. Their hopes of surpassing their 1994 performance was shattered after a 4-1 loss to Denmark.

[edit] 2002 World Cup

The 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan, saw Nigeria again qualify with optimism. With a new squad and distinctive pastel green kits the Super Eagles were expected to build on their strong performances in the 2000 and 2002 African Cup of Nations. Nigeria were drawn into group F with powerhouses Sweden, Argentina, and England. They started their first game against Argentina with a strong defence and kept the first half scoreless. However in the 61st minute Gabriel Batistuta breached the Nigerian defense to put Argentina in the lead 1-0 and win the game. Nigeria's second game against Sweden saw them take the lead but later lose 2-1. There was little consolation when Nigeria drew 0-0 with England and bowed out in the first round.

Nigeria missed out on qualification for the 2006 World Cup after finishing level on points in the qualification group with Angola, but having an inferior record in the matches between the sides.

[edit] African Nations Cup

Nigeria won the African Nations Cup twice (1980 and 1994). More recently they took third place at the 2006 African Nations Cup.

[edit] Achievements

• African Cup of Nations: 2
  

1980, 1994

• All-Africa Games: 1
  

1973

• Afro-Asian Cup of Nations: 1
  

1995

• CEDEAO Cup: 1
  

1990

• Olympic Games Gold: 1
  

Atlanta 1996^[1]

• Olympic Games Silver: 1
  

Beijing 2008^[1]

• African Youth Championship: 5
  

1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2005

• African Under-17 Championship: 2
  

2001, 2007

• FIFA U-17 World Cup: 3
  

1985, 1993, 2007

[edit] World Cup record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1934	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1938	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1950	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1954	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1958	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1962	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1966	Withdrew	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1970	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1974	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1978	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1982	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1986	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1990	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1994	Round of 16	9	4	2	0	2	7	4
1998	Round of 16	12	4	2	0	2	6	9
2002	Round 1	27	3	0	1	2	1	3
2006	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2010Qualification		-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	3/18		11	4	1	6	14	16

[edit] Confederations Cup record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1992	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1995	Fourth place	3	1	2	0	4	1
1997	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1999	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2001	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2003	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2005	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2009	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	1/8	3	1	2	0	4	1

[edit] African Cup of Nations record

African Cup of Nations
Titles: 2 Appearances: 15
Year	Position		Year	Position		Year	Position
1957	Did not qualify		1976	Third place		1994	Champions
1959	Did not qualify		1978	Third place		1996	Withdrew from tournament
1962	Did not qualify		1980	Champions		1998	Disqualified for failure to participate in 1996
1963	Round 1		1982	Round 1		2000	Second place
1965	Did not qualify		1984	Second place		2002	Third place
1968	Did not qualify		1986	Did not qualify		2004	Third place
1970	Did not qualify		1988	Second place		2006	Third place
1972	Did not qualify		1990	Second place		2008	Quarter-finals
1974	Did not qualify		1992	Third place		2010	Qualification

[edit] Current squad

The following players were called in for the World Cup qualifier against Tunisia on June 20 2009.

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Vincent Enyeama 29 August 1982 (1982-08-29) (age 26) 41 0 Hapoel Tel Aviv 12 GK Austin Ejide 8 April 1984 (1984-04-08) (age 25) 13 0 Bastia GK Dele Aiyenugba 20 November 1983 (1983-11-20) (age 25) 7 0 Bnei Yehuda 3 DF Taye Taiwo 16 April 1985 (1985-04-16) (age 24) 28 7 Marseille 5 DF Obinna Nwaneri 18 March 1982 (1982-03-18) (age 27) 30 1 FC Sion 6 DF Danny Shittu 2 September 1980 (1980-09-02) (age 28) 16 0 Bolton Wanderers 18 DF Onyekachi Apam 30 December 1986 (1986-12-30) (age 22) 3 0 Nice DF Olubayo Adefemi 13 August 1985 (1985-08-13) (age 23) 2 0 SC Rheindorf Altach DF Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé 20 January 1988 (1988-01-20) (age 21) 2 0 Rennes DF Joseph Yobo 6 September 1980 (1980-09-06) (age 28) 61 4 Everton DF Sam Sodje 25 May 1979 (1979-05-25) (age 30) 2 0 Leeds United DF Yusuf Mohamed 5 November 1983 (1983-11-05) (age 25) 6 0 FC Sion 10 MF John Obi Mikel 22 April 1987 (1987-04-22) (age 22) 26 2 Chelsea 14 MF Oluwafemi Ajilore 18 January 1985 (1985-01-18) (age 24) 2 0 FC Groningen 16 MF Kalu Uche 15 November 1982 (1982-11-15) (age 26) 9 1 UD Almería 17 MF Sani Kaita 2 May 1986 (1986-05-02) (age 23) 9 0 FC Kuban Krasnodar 19 MF Dele Adeleye 25 December 1988 (1988-12-25) (age 20) 3 0 Sparta Rotterdam MF Dickson Etuhu 8 June 1982 (1982-06-08) (age 27) 6 0 Fulham 14 MF Seyi Olofinjana 30 June 1980 (1980-06-30) (age 29) 19 0 Stoke City MF Oladapo Olufemi 11 May 1988 (1988-05-11) (age 21) 1 0 4 FW Nwankwo Kanu 1 August 1976 (1976-08-01) (age 32) 78 13 Portsmouth 7 FW Victor Obinna 25 March 1987 (1987-03-25) (age 22) 15 6 Internazionale 8 FW Joseph Akpala 24 August 1986 (1986-08-24) (age 22) 2 1 Club Brugge 11 FW Peter Odemwingie 15 July 1981 (1981-07-15) (age 27) 28 5 Lokomotiv Moscow 15 FW Ikechukwu Uche 5 January 1984 (1984-01-05) (age 25) 22 6 Getafe FW Chinedu Obasi 1 June 1986 (1986-06-01) (age 23) 15 3 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 7 FW John Utaka 8 January 1982 (1982-01-08) (age 27) 36 5 Portsmouth 11 FW Michael Eneramo 26 November 1985 (1985-11-26) (age 23) 4 1 Espérance

[edit] Recent call-ups

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Greg Etafia 30 September 1982 (1982-09-30) (age 26) 4 0 Moroka Swallows (WCQ v. South Africa, 6 September) 11 MF Lukman Haruna 4 December 1990 (1990-12-04) (age 18) AS Monaco (WCQ v. South Africa, 6 September) 18 DF Daniel Ola 26 November 1982 (1982-11-26) (age 26) 0 0 Cesena (WCQ v. South Africa, 6 September) 18 FW Victor Anichebe 23 April 1988 (1988-04-23) (age 21) 4 0 Everton (WCQ v. Equatorial Guinea, 21 June) FW Kayode Odejayi 21 February 1982 (1982-02-21) (age 27) 1 0 Barnsley (Friendly v. Austria, 27 May) DF Ifeanyi Emeghara 24 March 1984 (1984-03-24) (age 25) Steaua Bucureşti (Africa Nations Cup 2008) MF Richard Eromoigbe 26 June 1984 (1984-06-26) (age 25) FC Khimki (Africa Nations Cup 2008) MF Onyekachi Okonkwo 13 May 1982 (1982-05-13) (age 27) FC Zürich (Africa Nations Cup 2008) 13 DF Chidi Odiah 17 December 1983 (1983-12-17) (age 25) 18 1 CSKA Moscow FW Stephen Makinwa 26 July 1983 (1983-07-26) (age 25) Chievo (Africa Nations Cup 2008) DF Kingsley Udoh 7 December 1990 (1990-12-07) (age 18) 1 0 Akwa United (Friendly v. Sudan, 9 January) DF Efe Ambrose 18 October 1988 (1988-10-18) (age 20) 1 0 Kaduna United (Friendly v. Sudan, 9 January) FW Manasseh Ishiaku 9 January 1983 (1983-01-09) (age 26) 4 1 1. FC Köln (Friendly v. Sudan, 9 January) GK Ngemba Evans Obi 7 July 1984 (1984-07-07) (age 25) 0 SV Heimstetten II (Friendly v. Colombia, 22 November)[2] MF Paul Obiefule 15 May 1986 (1986-05-15) (age 23) 10 0 Lyn (Friendly v. Jamaica, 11 February) 9 FW Obafemi Martins 28 October 1984 (1984-10-28) (age 24) 22 13 Newcastle United (WC Qualifier v. Mozambique, 29 March) DF Rabiu Afolabi 18 April 1980 (1980-04-18) (age 29) Sochaux (WC Qualifier v. Mozambique, 29 March) DF Chibuzor Okonkwo 16 December 1988 (1988-12-16) (age 20) 0 0 Bayelsa United MF Ayila Yussuf 4 November 1984 (1984-11-04) (age 24) 14 2 Dynamo Kyiv (WC Qualifier v. Kenya, 7 June) MF Sone Aluko 19 February 1989 (1989-02-19) (age 20) 1 0 Aberdeen (Friendly v. Ireland, 29 May)

[edit] Managers

Team managers of Nigeria and the dates they took over.

Date appointed	Manager name
2008	Shaibu Amodu
2008	James Peters
2007–2008	Berti Vogts
2005–2007	Augustine Eguavoen
2002–2005	Christian Chukwu
2002	Adegboyega Onigbinde
2001–2002	Shaibu Amodu
1999–2001	Johannes Bonfrere
1999–1999	Thijs Libregts
1998–1998	Bora Milutinović
1997–1998	Monday Sinclar
1997–1998	Philippe Troussier
1996–1997	Shaibu Amodu
1995–1996	Johannes Bonfere
1994–1995	Shaibu Amodu
1989–1994	Clemens Westerhof
1987–1989	Paul Hamilton
1988–1989	Manfred Hoener
1985	Patrick Ekeji
1984–1986	Chris Udemezue
1983–1984	Adegboyega Onigbinde
1981	Gottlieb Goller
1979–1982	Otto Gloria
1970–1971 & 1974	Heinz Marotze
1974–1978	Jelisavčić 'Tiki' Tihomir
1972–1973 1963–1964	George Penna
1969–1970	Peter 'Eto' Amaechina
1965–1968	Joseph Ember
1964–1965	Daniel Anyiam
1961–1963	George Vardar
1960–1961	Moshe Beth-Halevi
1956–1960	Les Courtier
1954–1956	Daniel Anyiam
1949	John Finch

[edit] Top goalscorers

List of Nigeria's top ten highest ever international goalscorers.

Goal scored	Player name
37	Rashidi Yekini
24	Segun Odegbami
17	Sunday Oyarekhua
17	Yakubu
16	Samson Siasia
15	Thompson Usiyan
14	Daniel Amokachi
14	Jay-Jay Okocha
14	Julius Aghahowa
13	Nwankwo Kanu
13	Obafemi Martins

[edit] Recent results (last 12 months)

• 2010 African Cup of Nations Qualifying Group 4:
  •  Nigeria 2 v 0  South Africa, 1 June 2008
  •  Sierra Leone 0 v 1  Nigeria, 7 June 2008
  •  Equatorial Guinea 0 v 1  Nigeria, 15 June 2008
  •  Nigeria 2 v 0  Equatorial Guinea, 21 June 2008
  •  South Africa 0 v 1  Nigeria, 5 September 2008
  •  Nigeria 4 v 1  Sierra Leone, 11 October 2008
  •  Mozambique 0 v 0  Nigeria, 29 March 2009
  •  Nigeria 3 v 0  Kenya, 7 June 2009
  •  Tunisia 0 v 0  Nigeria, 20 June 2009

[edit] Friendly matches

• •  Nigeria 1 - 1  Austria, 27 May 2008
  •  Nigeria 0 - 1  Colombia, 19 November 2008
  •  Nigeria 0 - 0  Jamaica, 11 February 2009
  •  Nigeria 1 - 1  Republic of Ireland, 29 May 2009
  •  Nigeria 1 - 0  France, 02 June 2009

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Kick Off Nigeria
• RSSSF archive of results 1955-
• Nigerian Football Statistics and Articles
• Nigerian Football Online

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