Jubilation, joy, celebration, calm, relief... all emotions that Nigerians expressed after the Super Eagles of Nigeria edged out the Flames of Malawi 2-0 at the UJ Eusene Stadium in Calabar, Cross River last Saturday to finish top of Group F and qualify for the playoff stage of 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
The win does not mean that the 2013 AFCON champion has earned an automatic ticket to the grandest football competition in the world. There is yet another hurdle to cross on Monday, September 16 when all group winners will enter a draw in Cairo, Egypt, to determine pairings for the knockout stage.
Not less than five countries would jostle for the ticket to represent the African continent in the World Cup fiesta in Brazil. Some African countries including South Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroun, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ethiopia, Senegal, Ghana, Algeria and Egypt have already booked their tickets in the final stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The fear expressed by most fans is that Nigeria would be paired with nations like arch-rivals Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Algeria in the final stage. But it appears the Eagles would likely face Egypt, Ethiopia, Senegal, Cameroun or South Africa.
Meanwhile, the agony of 2006 remains fresh in the memory of the sports lovers; Nigerians watched in disbelief as Angola qualified on away goal rule to effectively shatter the hope of Nigeria competing at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Additionally, the Eagles' outing at the 2010 World Cup in South African was not so impressive. Although, the national team later returned to South Africa in 2013 to win the African Cup of Nations, AFCON, but football pundits and fans who spoke to Inside FCT shortly after the Calabar match said the group stage qualification came as a result hard work on the part of the Nigerian team.
Many of them added that they were looking forward to Nigeria's participation at the 2014 World Cup. The expectation is that Nigeria would look back and learn from how the team handled the various qualification matches, observe the setbacks and come out better.
FCT resident and football follower, Mr. Livinus Uchenna, noted that the technical crew and players really put in their best by living up to billing as Eagles and showing the Flames of Malawi the exit door.
"Nothing else could have served to humiliate the Malawians, who applied all sorts of tricks aimed at destabilising the Eagles; but Nigerian players put in their best as they have done so far. I think with some fine tuning, the team will take its chances in any match", he said.
According to Chris Nweke, a radio sports journalist in Abuja, "Nigeria as a team played well against Malawi, with classic passes from the midfield and combination of attackers to penetrate the Malawian defender. But I think the knockout stage is going to be tougher than the group stage. I will advise the technical crew to emphasis discipline among the players so no one makes stupid errors like Sani Kaita did in South Africa that cost us early elimination in group stage".
Also, another football lover, Albert Oyafolo, gave his view of the Eagles' performance so far. "Sincerely speaking, the Nigerian football team under Stephen Keshi led administration has done tremendously well by winning the Nations Cup after 19 years of yearning by Nigeria. But what the country needs from the big boss and his boys is to make sure that Nigeria's flag flies high in Brazil; so, they should make sure the World Cup ticket is their prime target.
"But Eagles need to work on its defence; my observation is that the Eagles' defence needs some technical input to assist us when we face strong nations like Egypt and Cameroon, among others", Oyafolo cautioned.
For Salifu Ibrahim, he explained that: "No doubt, the game against Malawi was a good game. The players played well even though they were unable to utilise many of the chances that came their way; they should commended because they exerted themselves and showed they are a force to reckon with. But the Eagles need to prudent with their finishing and in the attacking sequence there were a lot of blunders
"My message is that Super Eagles should not relax their concentration in the knockout stage because whichever country we pair in the draw is not going to be easy, they will also come out fighting. That is why we need to do our home work well by choosing the right players to prosecute the match".
National Mirror