1998 World Cup: Super Eagles fly, again
The Nigerian team at the World Cup in France.
What you need to know:
- There was an irony in the qualification phase of the 1998 World Cup.
There was an irony in the qualification phase of the 1998 World Cup. Czech Republic, ranked third in the world, failed to qualify, yet Nigeria, who had fallen from fifth position before USA ‘94, to 74th and lowest, made it to France.
Moreover, the Super Eagles were thumped 4-1 by the Netherlands in a pre-World Cup friendly and were easily the underdogs against Spain, who were Pele’s favourite team for the World Cup.
But Bora Milutinović’s men proved that sometimes rankings are just on paper.
Actually, it was political intervention that had derailed Nigerian football. In 1996, SaniAbacha had barred the team from defending their Afcon trophy in South Africa, resulting in Caf banning them from the 1998 edition.
Now in France, some of whom were part of the 1996 Olympic winning team, wanted to prove a point. They did; against a star-studded Spain.
Fernando Hierro put Spain ahead on 21 minutes. Mutiu Adepoju levelled in the 24th. Just after half-time, Raul restored Spain’s lead. But a howler by the lethargic Andoni Zubizarreta led to another equaliser in the 73rd and killed Spain’s confidence.
Five minutes later, Sunday Oliseh struck a beautiful volley that sealed it for the Super Eagles.
