Had Nigeria not been a fading force in African football, it would have fancied itself to go through despite the tough opponents it would have to face. But on the back of 2 consecutive Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification failures, many supporters will be concerned that Nigeria's chances of making it through to the World Cup as group winners may be quite slim considering Nigeria has struggled to qualify from easier groups in the past and has failed to qualify for the AFCON since the Super Eagles won it under the management of the late Stephen Keshi in 2013.
At the moment, the Super Eagles don't have a confirmed head coach since Sunday Oliseh controversially stepped down as Super Eagles coach citing a lack of support from the NFF amongst other grievances. Presently, the interim coach is Salisu Yusuf who took over from Samson Siasia who was drafted to handle the squad after Oliseh's bizarre resignation.
Salisu has been in charge of the team during recent friendlies and it is yet to be seen the role he will be given in the new management. If the statement of NFF Chairman Amaju Pinnick is anything to go by, it appears Salisu might not be considered as the coach on a permanent basis. Rumours are rife that the chosen candidate for the hot seat is former PSG and Cameroon coach, Paul Le Guen. Announcement on the identity of the coach whoever it is should be disclosed by the NFF soon.
It is important that this key aspect is taken care of as quickly as possible so that the coach can set the ground running as the Super Eagles take on Zambia in October. It is imperative that the manager if he turns out to be a foreigner gets familiar with the players he intends to use to prosecute the qualifiers against Zambia.
Looking at the fixtures, Nigeria has the chance to build momentum and pile pressure on their group rivals if they can get a victory against Zambia away from home and defeat Algeria and Cameroon at home in the following games. Nigeria has been good at getting draws away from home and could achieve that against Cameroon and Algeria if they defeat Zambia at home.
Easier said than done though. But it represents the likely way Nigeria will qualify if adequate preparations are made and the best players are selected based on current form and not solely on reputation. If in doubt, ask former England manager, Roy Hodgson on the pitfalls of picking a player based on reputation and not on form or fitness.
For the pessimistic lot among us, it is best not to have high hopes of qualifying if the recent failures to reach AFCON tournaments are anything to go by. Zambia which could be regarded as the 'weakest' team in the group won the AFCON in 2012, defeating Ivory Coast in the final. Algeria won the AFCON in 1990 and are currently ranked 32 in the FIFA world rankings. They also rank as Africa's highest ranking team at the moment. If their performance at the last World Cup is to be considered, Nigeria would have to be at their very best when they come to town.
Algeria indeed have world class players in their prime at the moment. Riyad Mahrez was voted PFA player of the year after a stellar campaign for Leicester City last season in which against all odds won the premier league. They also have the likes of Yacine Brahimi, Islam Slimani, and Sofiane Feghouli in their ranks amongst others excelling in various clubs in Europe. It has to be said though, that Algeria has a poor record against West African opposition and this represents a glimmer of hope for Nigeria.
As for Cameroon, they are in similar underwhelming circumstances like Nigeria. A former African Super power with 4 AFCON titles and 7 World Cup appearances but has been mediocre for close to a decade despite having world class players like Samuel Eto'o, Rigobert Song and Alex Song. There are signs though that they are on the brink of a resurgence and a clash with the old enemy Nigeria might trigger another rivalry similar to the glory days of both nations.
In the last couple of years, Nigeria has emerged victorious or come out with a credible draw when they met each of the teams in their Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers group in friendlies or in a major tournament like the AFCON. Will these positive outcomes continue to be the trend or will the harsh reality of the curent state of the Super Eagles reveal how far we are behind our rivals?
