Comparing the current iteration of Super Eagles with the venerated class of 94 could be as close to Nigerian football blasphemy as we are likely to come.

But as they prepare to face France on Monday in a World Cup round of 16 game, this team has already achieved everything that that group of players did back in the early 90s, and with considerably less talent, it must be said.

There are parallels to be drawn between both squads. Built from scratch after seeming disaster. The team under Clemens Westerhof narrowly lost out in World Cup qualifying to Cameroon, and the Dutchman, on arrival was forced to start his rebuilding almost from scratch.

Similarly, current coach Stephen Keshi was handed the reins after a more devastating setback, failure to qualify for the Nations Cup. At home.

After that, the two teams seem to take diverging paths. Westerhof's team travelled to Algeria for the African Nations Cup, and were comprehensively routed 5-1 by the hosts in the opening game. They did bounce back to reach the final, where they only lost 0-1.

It took another four years before they were finally crowned African champions.

By contrast, Keshi's team, under enormous and somewhat undeserved pressure, made the trip to South Africa and returned with the trophy.


It took a full five years for Westerhof's team to claim the African title, whereas Keshi's did it in less than one year. Chalk one up for the current team.

Westerhof would have in all probability, kept his job even if his team did not reach the final. But Keshi's was only rescued by that unexpected triumph.

In World Cup qualifying, Westerhof's side laboured in a three-team group with Côte d'Ivoire and Algeria. The Ivorian’s were without Oumar Ben Salah, arguably Africa's best player at the time, the equivalent of present day Didier Drogba at the height of his powers.

It took a heart in mouth draw away to Algeria, with team captain Keshi leading his team into battle carrying flowers for the Algerians that was meant to be pacifying but did little to ease the pressure.

Compare that with the relative ease with which this generation booked their World Cup ticket. Of course there were stumbles, and life was made easier by the (non) opposition offered up by Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

But they did the business all the same. With less threats of heartbreak than usual.

Westerhof's team took some hammering in their World Cup build-up. The same cannot be said of this generation.

And now, at the World Cup proper, in reaching the second round, this team have equalled the achievements of that legendary squad.



They may not have opened in the same swashbuckling style as the 3-0 manhandling of Bulgaria, but they showed exceptional grit in claiming the win they needed over Bosnia, before losing to Argentina, same as their predecessors.

This, with players that are still mostly raw, lack as much experience as that 94 team and could even be said to be just slightly inferior talent-wise to that team.

At the beginning of the tournament, Keshi was asked how this team compares to that one in which he played and achieved so much. "These boys are still young, they are still growing. For now, that team is better," was Keshi's response.

Actually, Keshi was only half right. True, this team is younger and still growing. But, and this is important, they have already matched the achievements of that 94 squad by winning the Nations Cup, qualifying for the World Cup and reaching the round of 16.



It is almost frightening to think of how much better they can get when they develop fully and play to their potential.

If they beat France on Monday, their achievements, in infancy, would have surpassed that of the fully developed class of 94. No question about that.

Which would be a very solid argument for keeping Keshi on after the World Cup. Unfortunately, that looks unlikely. But that is a story for another day.

For now, let us revel in the moment, content in the hope that whatever happens on Monday, history remembers these lads fondly for having bravely walked the path broken by that group of players who will forever be cherished by Nigerians.

A path that more accomplished predecessors had stumbled in trying to follow.

They could be next in line for football canonization


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