Nigeria Coach At FIFA World Cup: What You Need To Know From 1994 Till Date
By Eyo Kelvin
Nigeria first journey to the World Cup began in the year 1994 with Clement Westerhof. And the season of World Cup is here again as Nigeria will battle Argentina, Croatia and Iceland in Group D of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Nigeria first journey to the World Cup began in the year 1994 with Clement Westerhof. And the season of World Cup is here again as Nigeria will battle Argentina, Croatia and Iceland in Group D of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
 |
| Clement Westerhof |
Clements Westerhof took Nigeria to the first World Cup appearance in 1994 with several years of struggling before finally gets there. Nigeria was pair in group D alongside Argentina, Bulgaria, and Greece. Nigeria began their first World Cup appearance defeating Bulgaria 3-0 in their opening game, lost to Argentina 2-1 and progress to the second round with a 2-0 victory over Greece in their final group game. Coach Clements Westerhof ensures Nigeria did not only qualify for the next round but also top group D with goal difference amassing 6 points with Bulgaria from three games.
Nigeria went further into the round of 16 to battle Italy, Roberto Baggio extra time goal to make it 2-1 after regulation time ended 1-1send Nigeria packing out of USA 1994 FIFA World Cup.
It was Nigeria first World Cup appearance and reaching the round of 16 was not a bad one for a country like Nigeria
 |
| Velibor Bora Milutinovic |
France 1998, Nigeria qualifies for their second FIFA World Cup under Velibor “Bora” Milutinovic as coach. Nigeria returned with almost the same squad members in USA 1994 with great grit, confidence and experience of 1994 gather, Nigeria were drawn in Group D with Paraguay, Bulgaria and Spain. Nigeria draws the first blood in their opening defeating Spain 3-2, optimism was high due their performance also edge out Bulgaria by 1-0 and loss to Paraguay 1-3. However, despite the loss to Paraguay who later came second in the group, Nigeria comfortably top the group D with 6 points to qualify for the next.
The camp of the Eagles was very high with every dreams of surpassing its 1994 performance was shattered by Denmark as they knock Nigeria out from the World Cup with 4-1 win.
KOREA/JAPAN 2002 WORLD CUP: FESTUS “ADEGBOYE” ONIGBINDE
 |
| Festus Adegboye Onigbinde |
Nigeria did not relent to make a third time returned to the World Cup, this time Nigeria finds themselves in a group of death with England, Sweden and Argentina in Group F. Onigbinde lead the Nigeria contingents to South Korea and Japan in worst outing as Nigeria failed to win a single game from the group of death after losing to Argentina in the first game as Gabriel Batistuta strike earn Argentina a 1-0 win over Nigeria. In the second game Sweden came from a goal down to beat Nigeria 2-1 after taking the lead in the second game against Sweden, Nigeria bowed out in the first round disappointed after the Super Eagles drew 0-0 with the three lions of England.
Under Coach Festus Onigbinde, Nigeria had their worst performance of the tournament picking only one point as consolidation with different set of squad that prosecuted the 1994 and 1998 world cup respectfully.
SOUTH AFRICA 2010 WORLD CUP: LARS EDVIN “LASSE” LAGERBACK
 |
| Lars Lagerback |
Nigeria campaign opened again after failing to qualify for Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup with a disappointing and controversial header from Gabriel Heinze to give Argentina the needed win over Nigeria in the opening match.
In the second game, Sani Kaita red card gave Greece the advantage to overpower 10 man Nigeria team to a 2-1 win after Kalu Uche handed Super Eagles the lead, Greece fought back to equalize in the first half and seal the winning in the second half.
Meanwhile, Uche Kalu open scoring early for Nigeria with the hope of picking all three points were dash as goals from Lee Jung-Soo and Park Chu-Young gave by South Korea 2-1 lead. Three minutes later, Yakubu Ayebeni restore parity as he was able to calmly score from the penalty spot to bring the score to a 2-2 draw.
Nigeria were drawn into group B with South Korea, Greece and Argentina which saw Nigeria been knock out of the tournament.
BRAZIL 2014 WORLD CUP: STEPHEN KESHI
 |
| Stephen Keshi |
Nigeria won the African Cup of Nations in 2013 with Stephen Keshi and also qualifies for the World Cup in Brazil a year later with a squad mix with home base and foreign base players. Many tips Nigeria to surpass previous world cup outing with their triumph in the African Continent but that was a different ball game as the opening game in group F with Iran left many Nigerians disappointed with a 0-0 draw. Nigeria bounce back to winning ways for the first time since 1998, Emmanuel Emenike’s goal was all Nigeria needed to break the jinx of not winning for long with a 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nigeria fell to Argentina 3-2 in the final group match as Lionel Messi and Ahmed Musa both got a brace each before Marcos Rojo grab a late winner for Argentina.
Although Nigeria progress to the round of 16 alongside Argentina. Nigeria crashed out of the World Cup with a 2-0 defeat to France in the round of 16, Emmanuel Emenike strike in the 13th minutes was ruled for an offside before Paul Pogba header gifted France the lead in the 79th minutes. Meanwhile, defensive blunder from Joseph Yobo gave France an own goal bringing the score line to 2-0 in favour of France.
RUSSIA 2018 WORLD CUP: GERNOT ROHR
 |
| Gernot Rohr |
Under Gernot Rohr as coach of Nigeria during the World Cup qualifiers series, Nigeria set an unbeaten record winning four games and drawing two out of six from group B that has Zambia, Cameroon and Algeria. Nigeria start off their world Cup campaign with a 2-1 win over Zambia, defeating Algeria 3-1 in the second game, and thrashing Cameroon 4-0 in the third game, Rohr lead the team to a 1-1 draw in Cameroon, and Nigeria sealed their world Cup slot with a comfortable 1-0 win over Zambia in Uyo when Alex Iwobi brilliant effort hands Nigeria a world Cup ticket with just one game to spare. Nigeria progress to Russia after they were force to a 1-1 draw in Algeria ib the final game of the World Cup qualifiers.
Rohr is gradually getting his tactics right with the team ever since he assumed office as coach of the Super Eagles beating Argentina 4-2 in an International Friendly match decided in Russia. Rohr have only loss two games since taking charge of Nigeria in all competitions. Losing to South Africa 0-2 in Uyo and Serbia 0-2 in an International Friendly.
Gernot Rohr will be hoping to take Super Eagles surpass other coaches records that have taken Nigeria to the World Cup and failed to get through the round of 16. And Rohr will be making history for himself if Nigeria gets to the quarter finals for the first time since making it to the world stage.
No comments