The 2010 edition is Nigeria‘s 16th participation in the championship with two titles to show for the effort. In 1980, Nigeria won its first title in Lagos after beating Algeria 3-0 in the final. Late Best Ogedegbe, Christian Chukwu, late Aloysius Atuegbu, Segun Odegbami, late Muda Lawal and Adokiye Amesimaka are some of the players who did Nigeria prod at the time.
But the defence in Libya ended in disaster as Nigeria was ousted in the first round. With coach Adegboye Onigbinde in charge of the team in 1984, the Green Eagles reached the final in Cote d‘Ivoire but lost to Cameroun by 3-1.
It was another silver medal in 1988 as Cameroun beat Nigeria again in Morocco. At Algiers ‘90, the host, propelled by Rabah Madja, beat Nigeria 5-1 as Clemence Westerhof tasted the bitter pill of leading the Eagles. But the team reached the final again and had to settle for another silver medal after losing 1-0 to Algeria again.
At Senegal ‘92, Abedi Pele and the rest of Ghana‘s Black Stars team stopped Nigeria in the semi final, but the Eagles took solace in avenging past defeats in the hands of Cameroun by beating the Indomitable Lions 2-1 to lift the bronze medal.
But the long awaited second title came two years later as Nigeria captured Africa in Tunisia 1994 after beating Zambia 2-1 in the final. It was sweet victory for the Eagles who also capped the golden era with a ticket to represent Africa in the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
As the continent awaited the Eagles to hit South Africa in 1996 and defend their crown, Nigeria paid the price of military rule as the nation withdrew from the championship because of differences in policy with South Africa. The consequence was damning with the stars of the era eclipsing the scene because of further sanction of two year-ban on Nigeria.
When Nigeria returned in 2000, it co-hosted the year‘s edition with Ghana and reached the final. But as it was in 1984 and 1988, Cameroun was superior as the Lions once again took the crown from Nigeria. It was the third time Nigeria was losing the title to Cameroun and it also signaled the gradual collapse of Nigerian football as the Eagles settled for bronze in the next three editions.
It got worst in Ghana 2008 as Nigeria struggled to reach the quarterfinal before losing to Ghana in Accra.
Perhaps the coming of Shaibu Amodu would end the drift after he led the Super Eagles to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The qualification was however earned in the hard way because of poor display against the opponents. But Nigerians could once again see the Eagles play swift football with the coach promising a better outing in Angola.
According to the Amodu, the Eagles had little time to prepare for romantic football during qualifying series and so all efforts were geared towards winning.
He said, ”Nigerians love good football but we could not do that in the qualifiers because we were after the results. In Angola, there will be plenty of beautiful football.”
[Source : The Punch]
No way,zambia is the best.
How can Nigeria rule Africa if they cannot even beat Zambia. In fact our draw with the Super Eagles says
a lot about Chipolopo’s development-Nigeria beats Ireland (ranked by FIFA way above Zambia) but fails to beat Zambia, that’s good going and I think we stand a good chance in Angola!
CANT WAIT TO SEE ZAMBIA BEAT TUNISIA THIS NITE!