Argentina 2023: Flying Eagles Handed Tough Draw, Face Brazil, Italy

Nigeria’s U20 boys, Flying Eagles must dig their feet into the ground against powerhouse Brazil, the second most successful team in the tournament with five wins one shy of Argentina.

In order to scale the group phase of this year’s FIFA U20 World Cup competition, The Flying Eagles will have to overcome two other opponents in the group- Italy and Dominican Republic.

Africa’s number three team was slotted into the interesting group D at the draw ceremony for the tournament held at the House of FIFA in Zurich yesterday, with hosts Argentina heading group A that also has Uzbekistan, Guatemala and New Zealand.

Argentina is the most successful nation at the FIFA U20 World Cup since the competition was launched in Tunisia in 1977. The South American nation has won the tournament six times, the last being in 2007. It also hosted the competition 22 years ago.

Nigeria’s Flying Eagles have finished as runners-up on two occasions, in Saudi Arabia in 1989 and in The Netherlands in 2005. They were bronze medallists in the USSR in 1985.

This year’s championship will take place between May 20 and June 11.

The top two teams from each group qualify, then the best third-placed teams will join them in the round of 16.

GROUP A: Argentina, Uzbekistan, Guatemala, New Zealand GROUP B: USA, Ecuador, Fiji Islands, Slovakia GROUP C: Senegal, Japan, Israel, Colombia GROUP D: Italy, Brazil, Nigeria, Dominic Republic

An average Nigerian family has a passionate football fan. Or more. Football followership in the country runs so deep, such that some Nigerian parents name their children after players in European football leagues. But this was not the story in the 70s and 80s. While it was not exactly the fad for parents to name their children after stars of the domestic football scene, football-loving kids adopted names like Segun Odegbami, Christian Chukwu and Emmanuel Okala when playing on dusty grounds which, for them, were real football pitches.

The adoption of local stars’ names was a testament to the emotional connection they had to domestic football and its home-made heroes.

Today’s generation hear stories about the good old days of Nigerian football, when fans filled the stadiums across the country to watch their favourite clubs and players in the Nigerian league. They hear how the likes of Iwuanyawu Nationale of Owerri (now Heartland FC), 3SC of Ibadan (formerly IICC Shooting Stars), Stationery Stores of Lagos, Rangers International of Enugu, BCC Lions of Gboko, and Mighty Jets of Jos, attracted huge followership. It was the glory days of fierce rivalries and entertaining football with stadiums filled to the brim.

The reality today is that the generation that witnessed the golden era and is able to recollect it has also been bitten by the foreign football bug. The local league is currently not appealing to Nigerian football fans.

To bring back the excitement, Nigerian football administrators, in recent times, have reiterated that they are open to new ideas and will provide support for initiatives that can improve Nigerian football. “We are asking people who have something new that can improve Nigerian football, to bring such ideas. Believe me, we will give you approval,” said the General Secretary, Nigeria Football Federation, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, at the unveiling of the NAIJA Super 8 tournament, recently in Lagos.

NAIJA Super 8, licensed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has the potential to spark the much-desired return of Nigerian club football to its pride of place. The tournament offers a completely different and exciting proposition. The aim, according to Flykite Productions, organisers of the tournament, is to reignite the passion and followership for club football in the country, by putting the fans at the heart of it.

“Football is about the fans. It is not about the money. So, if a club has money, has a big size, and plays good football, but does not have fans, it will be tough to stay at the top. What we are doing with Naija Super 8 is to involve the fans.

“The fans will vote for their favourite teams across the six geo-political zones. Voting commenced on April 10 on the Naija Super 8 website www. naijasuper8.ng and is open till 12 May. The 12 top-ranking teams based on votes will participate in a play-off. The two top-ranked teams from each geo-political zone will face each other in a play-off in Uyo and winners of the match will qualify for the Naija Super 8,” said the Chief Executive Officer, Flykite Productions, Jenkins Alumona.

Football today is big business, and the NAIJA Super 8 was packaged with huge financial incentives for clubs that make it into the main tournament. The eight teams are to slug it out at Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos State between June 17-25 for a share of over N100 million cash prize. Each team will play at least three matches in the group stage and is entitled to N3m per game.

Aside from the money made in the group stage and knockout phase, the winner of the competition gets an additional N25 million while the runner-up receives an extra N9 million. There are also cash prizes for the most valuable players in each of the matches. Cumulatively, the winner of NAIJA Super 8 is certain to go home with N37m.

That’s huge money for any Nigerian club, and the organisers conceived the tournament in a way that opens it to clubs in all divisions of the domestic game, with the shortlisting of 41 clubs across the six geopolitical zones of the country for voting.

Another interesting proposition of the NAIJA Super 8 is that it might successfully bring back some old rivalries, with the regional play-offs. Since two teams with the highest votes in each region of the country will face each other in the play-off, this could lead to matches like Heartland vs Rangers or Enyimba vs Rangers. There’s also the huge possibility of historic national rivalries like 3SC vs Rangers International at the main tournament plus the addition of cup-style giant-killing that could see clubs out of the top divisions upended by minnows.

According to NAIJA Super 8 organisers, measures are also in place to give fans memorable experiences at the tournament venue. Each team at the main tournament will be mentored by a Super Eagles legend, while every match day will feature live performances by popular Nigerian music artiste at the stadium. Some financial assistance will also be provided for clubs to bring their fans down to Lagos for the tournament. For fans who couldn’t make it into the stadium, all matches will be broadcast live by SuperSport, with in-depth studio analysis of the matches.

Essentially, this has the look of an admission that fans are the lifeblood of the game. The two stages of the tournament carry the potential of blockbuster clashes.