Anxious Nigerians pray for luck to beat Argentina

Nigeria may have to bank on luck and divine intervention to pull off a win against Group B favourites Argentina in their daunting World Cup opener on Saturday, fans and critics say.

The Super Eagles squad falls below the level of those which reached the second round in 1994 and 1998 while the absence of injured Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi has deprived the team of one of its few flair players.

“Realistically, Nigeria does not have a chance on Saturday with Argentina,” independent sports analyst Paul Bassey said.

“We are hanging on luck, surprise or a sense of patriotism that is blind to beat Argentina,” he added, contemplating the Nigerians’ date with Argentina’s world player of the year Lionel Messi.

Although the Super Eagles coach, Sweden’s Lars Lagerback, has the pedigree of leading his home nation at the last two World Cups, but shoddy preparations and a squad containing several lacklustre players could harm Nigerian chances.

Bassey pointed out that most of the players Nigeria will be fielding failed to sparkle at the African Nations Cup in Angola in January when they were knocked out by Ghana in the semi-finals.

Some in the line-up are either old, tired, injury-hit or simply have not played enough for their foreign clubs, he suggests.

“We are relying more on the spirit of determination of the Nigerian players”, said Audu Abubakar, another football buff.

Nigeria, which failed to qualify for the 2006 Wold Cup, may also pull through if God becomes the team’s “12th player,” he said, echoing a common view in this deeply religious country.

For Bamidele Aremu, 39, a driver relaxing by watching a local match on television in a bar in the run-down Obalende district of Lagos, his sense of patriotism overshadows the Super Eagles’ shortcomings.

“Nigeria did not prepare well for this competition… (but) Nigeria will find favour with mother luck to beat Argentina,” he said.

Ambrose Anyawu, a clerk in a firm of architects, does not share Aremu’s optimism.

“It is impossible to beat Argentina. We can only beat Aregentina if the god of football is Nigerian,” he said.

Nigeria has been dogged by a late change of team base and a late switch of coaches — Lagerback replaced Nigerian coach Saibu Amodu after the African Nations Cup — and a delayed start to the warm-up schedule, but the Swede is confident his team can beat any World Cup rival.

Saturday’s match pitches him against Argentina’s Diego Maradona, one of the world’s greatest ever players but still finding his feet as a coach.

“Maradona is one of the least-rated World Cup coaches but he parades some of the best players in the world.

“On the other hand, Lagerback has a high professional pedigree as a world-rated coach but is in charge of a rather colourless team,” Bassey said.

Abubakar added: “It will be a big feat if Nigeria passes through this stage. But let us keep our fingers crossed.”

But some fans are feeling far more optimistic.

Tunde Bamigbala, a coach at a community club in Lagos, rates Nigeria’s chances against Argentina as “very high”.

He said Nigeria has improved at each and every World Cup friendly warm-up match it has played in the last three weeks.

Lagerback oversaw his first win as Nigeria coach on Sunday, a 3-1 win over fellow World Cup qualifiers North Korea, a match which was overshadowed by a crowd stampede.

Before that the squad had stumbled to a goalless draw with Saudi Arabia and a 1-1 stalemate with Colombia.

“With the determination of the players and the right line-up against Argentina, the Super Eagles will emerge victorious,” said Bamigbala.

“One good thing about the new Nigerian coach is that he does not play a determined pattern and this can destabilise Argentina which has a style that everybody knows,” he added.