A quick look at Super Eagles and how they qualified for the FIFA World Cup

Nigeria head to Brazil as African champions, and with every intent of qualifying from a difficult group that includes Argentina, Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They will be targeting victories in their opening two games, and hope that their final game against Argentina is just academic.

Group F - Nigeria

World Cup history

This will be the fifth time that the Super Eagles haves reached the World Cup Finals since they first qualified in 1994. They have been a regular amongst African qualifiers since, though failed to reach the 2006 finals, after finishing level on points in their qualifying group with Angola, but had an inferior head-to-head record. They have reached the Round of 16 twice, first in their debut appearance in 1994, before making the last 16 again in 1998.

2010 World Cup Campaign

A lot was expected of the Super Eagles at the first World Cup in Africa. They had huge support at the tournament, but it ended up being a very disappointing tournament for them. They lost their opening game against Argentina 1-0, then lost their second match against Greece after being reduced to ten men and lost 2-1. In their final game against South Korea they were held to a 2-2 draw to end a forgettable campaign.

How they qualified:

Nigeria topped Group F in the second round of CAF World Cup qualifying. They were unbeaten in their six games, with three wins and three draws, finishing five points ahead of second-placed Malawi. Kenya and Namibia were also in the group. In the third round of qualifying Nigeria beat Ethiopia both home and away to reach the finals.

Key players:

There are a number of very good players in the Nigerian set-up, but if they are to be successful they are going to need star turns from the likes of Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel in the midfield, Lille’s Vincent Enyeama in goal, who believes the Super Eagles can reach the semi-finals, and Fenerbahce’s Emmanuel Emenike upfront. However it might be some of the young guns who end up being the key to the Super Eagles’ success, and Italian-based Joel Obi (Parma) and Ogenyi Onazi (Lazio) are two to keep an eye on.

Coach:

Stephen Okechukwu Keshi became the Nigerian coach in 2011. The former Super Eagles captain is one of only two people to have won the Africa Cup Of Nations as both a player and coach. He is revered as one of Nigeria’s greatest ever players, and the determined Keshi now wants to leave his mark in coaching too. Before taking on the Super Eagles job, Keshi had stints as the coach of Togo and Mali.

Nigeria’s Group F Fixtures:

16 June: Iran v Nigeria (21:00) - Curitiba

21 June: Nigeria v Bosnia and Herzegovina (00:00) - Arena Pantanal

25 June: Nigeria v Argentina (18:00) - Porto Alegre