According to recent and past results Nigeria is still the strongest national football team from the African continent, and Swedish coach Lars Lagerbäck is planning to keep it that way. After reaching the round of 16 two consecutive times in the 90′s and successfully qualifying for the next World Cup tournament, Nigeria took a break from the competition. But now the Super Eagles are back and coach Lagerbäck is very happy with the team’s overall performance so far.
“The most important factor for every great team is that the players know the basics of football really well, and Nigeria is definitely right there. Now we need to push the limits and give it our best shot in the finals. If we can manage to do just that, Nigeria has a great opportunity to go really far in South Africa“. Lagerbäck believes in the excitement of his young players, and wants to also add the national pride into the equation. “Everyone should be proud to play for his country, especially in a major competition like the World Cup. Most of the guys make a lot of money playing for a European club, but wearing your national jersey is a completely different feeling and I need to make them understand that”. There will also be over 1000 Nigerian fans watching the team play, something that can help bust the confidence and pride of their star players.
Lars Lagerbäck has only been the manager of Nigeria since February 5 2010, quitting his former position as the Swedish head coach when the team failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Despite the little time he had with his new team, he is confident they will be able to grab one of the top spots of Group B and move on to the next round. “We can have a good run in the finals, 3 months are enough to enforce my philosophy in their style of play. I always believed that Sweden could beat any opponent despite being a weaker team, and now I believe the same can happen for Nigeria as long as we all have faith”.
